Ousted lesbian Boy Scout leader delivers petition

Jennifer Tyrrell also wants the group to abandon its policy of excluding gays, which the organization reaffirmed Tuesday.

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LM Otero/AP
Jennifer Tyrrell (r.) arrives at the Boys Scouts of America national offices with her family, son Jude Burns (2nd r.), partner Alicia Burns, and son Cruz Burns, for a meeting, on July 18, in Irving, Texas.

An Ohio woman ousted as a den mother because she is a lesbian has delivered a petition with 300,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters urging the organization to reinstate her.

Jennifer Tyrrell also wants the group to abandon its policy of excluding gays, which the organization reaffirmed Tuesday.

Tyrrell wore a tan Scout uniform as she arrived Wednesday at the Boy Scouts national offices in Irving with her partner and two children, including a 7-year-old Cub Scout.

Tyrrell, who was carrying three boxes filled with the petitions, then went into a private meeting with representatives of the 102-year-old organization. Tyrrell presented the same petitions to the organization at its annual convention in Orlando, Fla., in May.

Tyrrell is from Bridgeport, Ohio.

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