Boy Scouts President Calls for End to Ban on Openly Homosexual Scout Leaders

ATLANTA — The president of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) called for an end to the organization’s ban on openly homosexual scout leaders on Thursday, stating that the group must either conform to society or risk legal ramifications that could possibly spell the end of the Boy Scouts.

As previously reported, Robert Gates served as the Secretary of Defense under then-President George W. Bush beginning in 2006 and stayed on board for part of Barack Obama’s first term. Prior to his appointment, he served 26 years in the CIA–his latter years as Director of Central Intelligence.

During his tenure as Secretary of Defense, Gates advocated for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell–which barred open homosexuality in the military–and expressed his agreement with Obama’s push to do away with the law. In 2013, he was appointed as the president of BSA.

“We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be,” Gates declared during the organization’s annual meeting in Atlanta on Thursday. “The status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained.”

“I support a policy that accepts and respects our different perspectives and beliefs,” he said. “I truly fear that any other alternative will be the end of us as a national movement.”

Gates stated that he would not pursue action against any troop that defies the current policy.

“We cannot ignore growing internal challenges to our current membership policy from some councils,” he said. “Nor can we ignore the social, political and juridical changes taking place in our country—changes taking place at a pace over this past year no one anticipated.”

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He also opined that there could be adverse consequences if BSA allows the matter to be brought before the courts.

“Waiting for the courts is a gamble with huge stakes,” he said. “If we wait for the courts to act, we could end up with a broad ruling that could forbid any kind of membership standard, including our foundational belief in our duty to God and our focus on serving the specific needs of boys.”

“Such an approach would allow all churches, which sponsor some 70 percent of our scout units, to establish leadership standards consistent with their faith,” he said. “We must, at all costs, preserve the religious freedom of our church partners to do this.”

Homosexual advocacy groups expressed support for Gates’ remarks.

“I’m glad he’s fully endorsing a re-evaluation of the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay adults,” Zach Wahls of Scouts for Equality told TIME. “It seems like the Boy Scouts will continue an internal dialogue about the subject and that a full vote within the next year or two is imminent.”

John Stemberger, Chairman of the Board of the BSA alternative Trail Life USA, expressed concern.

“Trail Life USA is saddened by the announcement regarding the anticipated membership change in Boy Scouts of America, as many families and boys will be negatively affected by this departure from their own long-standing principles,” he said in a statement. “It is tragic that the BSA is willing to risk the safety and security of its boys because of peer pressure from activists groups. Trail Life USA remains committed to timeless Christian values and to the hundreds of Charter Organizations and 23,000 members in 48 states.”

As previously reported, Rob Schwarzwalder, senior vice president of Family Research Council, told reporters two years ago after groups first began pushing for the change that it is dangerous to place men that have sexual attraction toward those of the same gender in charge of juvenile boys.

“As a father, I wouldn’t want my sons to go on a camping trip with a teenage girl and stay in the same tent. Similarly, I think it’s unwise to put boys or young men in a tent with boys or young men who are homosexual,” he outlined.

In 2013, over 60 percent of the scouting council voted in favor of altering the organization’s membership policy, which did not bar those struggling with homosexuality, but rather prohibited “open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.” The resolution posed the question of whether prospective scouts should be denied membership “on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”

BSA officials noted that sexual activity would still not be permitted among scouts despite the change in policy. ChristianNews