The national council of the Boy Scouts of America has approved a plan to allow openly gay boys to join the organisation.
The vote ends a policy that has been in place throughout the group's 103-year history.
However, the ban on gay and lesbian adult leaders remains in place.
The new policy, which was supported by more than 60% of the 1,400 scout leaders who met in Grapevine, Texas, for the organisation's annual national meeting, will come into effect on January 1 next year.
"The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organisation to be consumed by a single, divisive and unresolved societal issue," the BSA said in a statement.
"While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in scouting."
While the organisation has no further plans to review the issue, debate about the inclusion of gay members is likely to rage on.
Some conservative churches that sponsor scout units have lobbied to continue excluding gay youths, and in some cases have threatened to defect if the ban is lifted.
Defections could also hurt the BSA's coffers, as would a decrease in donations to individual troops by local businesses and organisations.
Conversely, some more liberal troops had lobbied to have the ban on gay leaders lifted as well.
The number of scouts has fallen in recent years to about 2.6 million from a peak of around four million.
It also has one million adult leaders and volunteers.
There are some 100,000 scouting units in the US, 70% of which are attached to churches and other religious groups.
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