Metro Weekly

Boy Scouts president: We can’t keep banning gay leaders

“The status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained.”

Robert Gates, Credit - Ed Schipul / Wikimedia
Robert Gates, Credit – Ed Schipul / Wikimedia

–Boy Scouts of America president Robert Gates, speaking at the BSA’s annual national meeting in Atlanta, Yahoo! reports.

Gates, a former Secretary of Defense, told attendees that the BSA couldn’t “ignore growing internal challenges to our current membership policy.”

“Nor can we ignore the social, political and juridicial changes taking place in our country,” he continued. “Changes taking place at a pace over this past year no one anticipated. We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be.”

Two years ago, the Scouts voted to end a ban on allowing openly gay members, but it did not include adult leaders or paid staff.

Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism

These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!