AP File photo
MAY 21, 2015, 1:02 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015, 7:33 PM
BY JOHN SEASLY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
For local Boy Scouts of America leaders, the issue of whether to end the ban on gay Scout leaders comes down to doing what’s beneficial to keep their organization going.
In this Friday, May 23, 2014 file photo, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates addresses the Boy Scouts of America’s annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., after being selected as the organization’s new president.
Reacting Thursday tor the BSA president’s urging of an end to the ban, North Jersey Scout leaders reacted generally with support for opening leadership posts to qualified individuals, but in some cases expressed a wait-and-see caution.
President Robert Gates, speaking at the organization’s national annual meeting in Atlanta, said the longstanding ban on gay adult leaders was unsustainable and called for change to prevent “the end of us as a national movement.”
In 2013, the BSA voted to allow openly gay youth as Scouts, but not gay adults as leaders. Gates, who at the time was in favor of allowing gay leaders, said Thursday that recent national gay rights debates have made the issue much more urgent.
