Los Angeles – Six months after the Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed its long-standing ban on gays, the organization signaled Monday that it might retreat from that prohibition and allow local groups to decide.

The proposed policy shift, which the Scouts’ national board will discuss next week in Irving, Texas, follows a decades-long effort to exclude homosexual boys and adult leaders.

It also coincides with growing public support for gay rights and pressure on the Scouts from corporations, some local governments and even members of its board to eliminate the ban.

“The policy change under discussion would allow the religious, civic or educational organizations that oversee and deliver scouting to determine how to address this issue,” spokesman Deron Smith said in a statement.

“The Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members or parents.”

The proposed change which is likely to be opposed by some religious organizations and others is the result of “a longstanding dialogue within the Scouting family,” Smith said.

“Last year Scouting realized the policy caused some volunteers and chartered organizations to act in conflict with their missions, principles or religious beliefs,” he said. “It’s important to note this policy would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs.”

Although Smith said there was no particular impetus for the proposed change, society’s attitudes are shifting.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted in December found that 51 percent favored or strongly favored same-sex marriage, with 40 percent opposed.

In 2004, the same poll found 30 percent in favor and 61 percent against.

In his inaugural address last week, President Barack Obama raised the profile of the gay rights movement, likening it to campaigns for civil rights and women’s suffrage.

He announced his support for same-sex marriage last May.And in November, voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington state approved same-sex marriage measures.

The Scouts’ exclusionary policies have cost it corporate support. Among other public relations crises the Scouts faced last year, computer chip maker Intel and the philanthropic arm of shipping giant UPS both withdrew financial support because of the gay ban.

At least two members of the Scouts’ national board, AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson and Ernst & Young Chief Executive James Turley, have called for ending the ban or amending the policy to make the group more inclusive.

Their public statements in favor of diversity came weeks after the Scouts forced out an Ohio Cub Scout den leader, Jennifer Tyrrell, last April. Tyrrell, a lesbian, had support from the parents of boys in her pack as well as thousands of others, who petitioned the Scouts to reinstate her.

In July, however, the Scouts announced it would keep the no-gays policy.

The decision, experts said, reflected the conservative values of many members, as well as the influence of the Roman Catholic and Mormon churches.At the time, Scout officials cited broad-based support for the policy, which is essentially “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the policy in 2000, but it has long prompted protests. Scouts for Equality’s website says that petitions opposing the ban have more than 1.2 million signatures.

“The Boy Scouts of America have heard from Scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that discriminating against gay Scouts and Scout leaders is wrong,” said Herndon Graddick, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

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