(MCT) — 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.