Everyone is looking at this all wrong.
The Boy Scouts were about 60% Mormon for the past 20 years, minimum. All Mormon boys had to be Boy Scouts. They held on to the anti-gay agenda for YEARS longer than they wanted to because the Mormon Church was their master. If the hardcore Christian Religions Right are the Jesus Nazis, the Mormon Church is Heinrich fucking Himmler and the Schutzstaffel.
They ditched the Boy Scouts for finally allowing gays to serve as scout leaders. Allowing girls to participate is an effort to save the organization.
I am an Eagle Scout and I appreciate the experiences and values I learned from the organization. If this is what needs to happen to save it, it is a worthy effort and it may work.
Let's face it. Girls like camping, hiking, fishing, learning wilderness survival, and other outdoor activities as much as boys. It sure beats the hell out of selling a bunch of overpriced cookies every spring. Maybe the two organizations can merge, but we should all want to save the Boy Scouts.
List of Notable Eagle Scouts:
Bootney Lee Farnsworth (Me)
Neil Armstrong
Michael Bloomberg
Philo Farnsworth (no relation)
J.W. Marriot (he's Mormon, so of course)
Michael Moore
Ross Perot
Steven Spielberg
Gerald Ford
Donald Rumsfeld
.