The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last week announced a plan to scale back its involvement in the Boy Scouts of America by removing from the organization all Mormon boys between the ages of 14 and 18, estimated to be around 185,000 scouts. Many observers have speculated that the 100-year partnership between the Mormon Church and the Boy Scouts of America was dissolving over values, because of the scout organization’s evolving view of homosexuality and its moves to end historic practices of discrimination.

So, does this rift indicate that the Boy Scouts of America is finally catching up with the rest of America on the view that such discrimination is wrong?

The Boy Scouts of America ended its full ban on openly gay youth in 2013, and then considered ending its ban on gay scout leaders in 2015. Under pressure from the Mormon Church, the Boy Scouts of America stopped short of prohibiting discrimination against openly gay scout leaders. The Boy Scouts determined that the national organization would no longer ban gay scout leaders but would allow local units to make their determination to “respect the right of religious chartered organizations.”

The religious exemption effectively allows local troops, including those affiliated with the Mormon Church, to exclude openly gay members from serving as scout leaders. Even with this exemption, the Mormon Church was incensed, and vocal in its displeasure, about the easing of the ban. The church stated that the “admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America” and noted that after further review, the church might abandon scouting.