They were mainly scouts and scoutmaster, but a lot of parents took part as well.

They came from all across metro Atlanta to vocally protest a vote next week that could allow gays to serve in the Boy Scouts of America.

"There's a huge concern that everything the Boy Scouts of America is will no longer be," says Lauri Weatherly, a parent of two boys from Atlanta.

The Scouts main board will vote on Thursday, May 23, to decide whether those who are openly gay should be involved in scouting.

For scoutmaster Kipper Tabb the choice was an easy one.

"Doing the right thing may not be what my child or my church member wants to hear," he told the crowd, "but healthy leaders have to lead in God honoring ways."

Lauri Weatherly says her oldest son will drop out of scouting before adhering to the new resolution.

Her son, Bruce, agrees.

"It would stop me from getting my Eagle (Scout badge) because I'm trying to stand up for what I believe in, both as a scout and as a Christian," he says.

Tabb says metro Atlanta scouts, over the last ten years, have produced over 50 Eagle Scouts.  Weatherly says that, in the more than 100 years that scouting has been around, it's produced 4 presidents and countless astronauts and West Point graduates.

Protest rallies opposing the planned vote were held in Atlanta and in other cities with Boy Scout headquarters across the country.