NEW YORK » The Boy Scouts of America may soon give sponsors of troops the authority to decide whether to accept gays as Scouts and leaders — a potentially dramatic retreat from a nationwide no-gays policy that has provoked relentless protests.

Under the change now being discussed, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue — either maintaining an exclusion of gays, as is now required of all units, or opening up their membership.

Gay-rights activists were elated at the prospect of change, sensing another milestone to go along with recent advances for same-sex marriage and the end of the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

However, Southern Baptist leaders, who consider homosexuality a sin, were furious about the possible change and said its approval might encourage Southern Baptist churches to support other boys organizations instead of the BSA.

Monday’s announcement of the possible change comes after years of protests over the no-gays policy, including petition campaigns that have prompted some corporations to suspend donations to the Boy Scouts.

Under the proposed change, said BSA spokes­man Deron Smith, "the Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members or parents."

Smith said the change could be announced as early as next week, after BSA’s national board concludes a regularly scheduled meeting Feb. 6.

The BSA, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010, has long excluded both gays and atheists. Smith said a change in the policy toward atheists was not being considered.

Protests over the no-gays policy gained momentum in 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the BSA’s right to exclude gays. Scout units lost sponsorships by public schools and other entities that adhered to nondiscrimination policies, and several local Scout councils made public their displeasure with the policy.

More recently, pressure surfaced on the Scouts’ own national executive board. Two high-powered members — Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson — indicated they would try to work from within to change the membership policy, which stood in contrast to their own companies’ nondiscrimination policies.