The Boy Scouts of America's policy excluding gay members and leaders could be up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, when the organization's national executive board meets behind closed doors under intense pressure from several sides.
BSA announced last week it was considering allowing troops to decide whether to allow gay membership.
That news has placed a spotlight on executive board meetings that began Monday in Irving, where scouting headquarters is located.
BSA spokesman Deron Smith said last week that the board could take a vote Wednesday or decide to discuss the policy, but the organization will issue a statement either way.
The board has remained silent otherwise.
Meanwhile, groups on all sides have organized to try to make their voices heard.
A Lancaster church as well as the Conservative group Texas Values both plan to be outside the headquarters on Wednesday.
"It's not hate. It's not bigotry. It's a choice about how to raise my children in what I perceive to be my Christian values. If yours are different, great, take your values in places where people agree with you," said Boy Scout Troop Leader Chris Kirby.
Others, including openly gay Eagle Scout James Dale, say the policy is wrong.
"I think fair-minded Americans know that discrimination is wrong, and that the Boy Scouts were out of step with America by excluding gay young people and telling non-gay children that discrimination was an American value," said Dale.
After Dale was kicked out of scouting, he took his case to the Supreme Court, but lost after the court upheld the organizations' ban.
Jennifer Tyrrell, a gay mother whose son is a Boy Scout, led a group of petitioners in a press conference in front of the Boy Scouts of America's National Headquarters in Irving Monday.
"Children's psyche are involved here. When you tell a child they're not good enough, when you tell a child their parent's not good enough, it takes a toll on that child. And so, it's not OK anymore," Tyrrell said.
Petitioners trying to dissolve the ban said they delivered 1.4 million signatures to Boy Scout Headquarters in Irving on Monday.
Gay rights organizations have been successful in getting businesses like UPS to pull their funding from scouting due to the ban.
The Associated Press' Nomaan Merchant, NBC 5's Kendra Lyn, and NBC 5's Greg Janda contributed to this report.
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