In 2000 the Supreme Court ruled in Boy Scouts of America vs. Dale that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had the right to exclude homosexuals from being scout leaders. The case overturned a 1999 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that the dismissal of a gay Scout leader had been illegal under the state’s antidiscrimination law. This case is the most recent example of the controversy over whether society should accept homosexuality.

The case was brought by James Dale, who wanted to become a Boy Scout leader after rising to the rank of Eagle Scout, the BSA’s highest honor that only 3 percent of Scouts earn. In 1990, after discovering that he was gay, the BSA rejected Dale’s application for the adult leadership position and fired him from his job as assistant scoutmaster. The BSA informed him in...