An openly gay Boy Scouts of America official was banned from the organization under a policy that restricts homosexual adults from participation.
Scoutmaster for Troop 98 in Seattle's Rainier Beach neighborhood Geoff McGrath was booted from the group under the Boy Scouts' code of regulations, which allows young gay boys to join, but not gay adults.
McGrath is thought to be the first gay adult whose membership was revoked since the controversial ballot was introduced last May.
"It's extremely disappointing to not be fully supported and defended in my membership," McGrath said during an interview with NBC News this week. "They are complaining that the problem [McGrath's status as an openly gay man] is a distraction to Scouting and they don't seem to understand that the distraction is self-inflicted."
According to a statement written by the Boy Scouts of America's spokesperson Deron Smith, the organization took away McGrath's membership.
"Our policy is that we do not ask people about their sexual orientation, and it's not an issue until they deliberately inject it into Scouting in an inappropriate fashion," Smith wrote in an email. "[McGrath] hadn't deliberately injected it into Scouting in an inappropriate fashion" up until NBC launched a probe into the matter.
"We spoke with Mr. McGrath today and based on the information he provided, the National Council has revoked his registration," Smith concluded.
BSA Chief Seattle Council member Sharon Moulds said she didn't know McGrath was gay until NBC got in touch with her.
"It was then that we became aware of his intentions to make a public statement about his orientation and use our program as a means to further a personal agenda," she wrote to KTAL.
But for McGrath, who started Troop 98 at the behest of local clergymembers, there were only the best intentions from the start.
Rev. Monica Corsaro of Rainier Beach United Methodist Church urged McGrath to direct the Boy Scout unit, despite the BSA's ban of adult gay leaders.
"If you don't participate, you're not part of the conversation," 49-year-old McGrath, who works in software engineering, said in an interview with NBC's local station. "Yelling from the outside is not conversing. So we're on the inside doing good work. Talking about the gay and lesbian issue is not the biggest part of what we do - it's the smallest part."
"Mostly it's about ending the silence," McGrath said. "It means becoming an equal participant with everyone else. That's all."
The BSA said it does not have plans to reevaluate its guidelines, KTAL reported.
