New Zealand Scouts have welcomed a decision by Boy Scouts of America to end a 37-year ban on gay adult leaders.
Scouts NZ chief executive Niamh Lawless said the NZ body had always been "an open, inclusive organisation".
"We have openly gay leaders and openly gay youth, and they feel really included in the movement," she said. "We are very pleased to see that Boy Scouts of America has made this decision."
The American body's 80-member national executive board made the decision on Monday, two years after a 2013 conference at which about 60 per cent of 1400 delegates voted to end the ban on gay leaders, which was imposed in 1978.
The new policy still allows church-sponsored Scouting units to maintain a ban in accordance with their faith. The Mormon Church, which sponsors 17 per cent of all US Scouts, is reported to have said it would keep the ban on gay leaders and was considering breaking away from Boy Scouts of America over the issue.