NEW YORK – After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America has emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, ruling out any changes despite relentless protest campaigns by critics.

The Scouts’ national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press that an 11-member special committee, formed discreetly in 2010, concluded that the exclusion policy is “absolutely the best policy” for the organization.

Smith said the committee, comprising professional scout executives and adult volunteers, was unanimous in its conclusion – preserving a long-standing policy that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 and has remained controversial ever since.

As a result of the committee’s decision, Smith said the Scouts’ national executive board will take no further action on a pending resolution asking for reconsideration of the membership policy.