Boy Scouts of America President Says Ban on Gay Leaders “Cannot Be Sustained” May 21, 2015

Boy Scouts of America President Says Ban on Gay Leaders “Cannot Be Sustained”

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America finally said gay scouts would not be kicked out of the organization.

But gay scout leaders were still banned. (Not to mention atheists of any age, but that’s a separate issue.)

Now, the BSA’s own President, Robert Gates, says the homophobia has to stop or the organization won’t be around much longer:

In a speech Thursday in Atlanta to the Scouts’ national annual meeting, Gates referred to recent moves by Scout councils in New York City and elsewhere to defy the ban.

“The status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained,” said Gates, a former U.S. secretary of defense.

The Boy Scouts are finally realizing that bigotry isn’t a selling point.

(That New York case in particular is very compelling.)

This is all just talk for now — they didn’t vote on any policy changes — but when the leader of the group says something’s gotta give, you’d hope the rest of the organization follows quickly.

I’m sure Christian and Mormon groups will push even harder for the gay leader ban; after all, they’re they only ones who really want it in place. But even the church is shifting on this issue, following the lead of decent human beings who knew better than to look to religious leaders for moral guidance.

It’s about time the BSA makes this change. And then maybe they’ll finally get to work on allowing atheists in the group.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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