It is impossible to square the Boy Scouts of America’s values of openness, strong moral character and leadership with its announcement this week that reaffirmed a retrograde policy of barring gay boys from membership and gay or lesbian adults from serving as leaders.

Based on the recommendation of a secret 11-member committee, the policy is at odds with the nation’s diminishing acceptance of antigay discrimination and is destined to hurt many young people and their families. It compounds the dilemma faced by parents who welcome the positive community service and outdoor experiences that the Boy Scouts offer, but are repelled by discrimination.

A dozen years ago, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that as a private organization, the Boy Scouts may exclude gay members even though it may conflict with a state’s anti-discrimination laws.

The Boy Scouts are, indeed, a private organization, but there is a public interest in its decisions. The organization boasts on its Web site that it has a charter from Congress and that every president since William Howard Taft has served as its honorary chairman. That now puts the government in the untenable position of implicitly endorsing the discriminatory policies of the Boy Scouts.