President Obama opposes the recently affirmed Boy Scouts policy of banning gay members, according to a statement from the White House sent in response to a Washington Blade inquiry.
“The President believes the Boy Scouts is a valuable organization that has helped educate and build character in American boys for more than a century,” White House spokesperson Shin Inouye said in the statement. “He also opposes discrimination in all forms, and as such opposes this policy that discriminates on basis of sexual orientation.”
Michael Key, Washington BladeThe Boy Scouts of America affirmed its gay ban last month after a two-year review of the policy.
Deron Smith, a Boy Scouts spokesperson, said his organization respects the opinion of the president and believes good people can personally disagree on the issue.
“The Boy Scouts of America respects the opinions of President Obama and appreciates his recognition that Scouting is a valuable organization,” Smith said. “We believe that good people can personally disagree on this topic and still work together to accomplish the common good.”Among the organizations working to lift the ban is the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has been championing the issue after lesbian den leader Jennifer Tyrrell was expelled from the organization ostensibly because of her sexual orientation.
Herndon Graddick, GLAAD’s president, responded to the White House statement by saying numerous political leaders have come out against the ban prohibiting openly gay people from being in the Boy Scouts.
“Our nation’s leaders from across religions and political persuasions have joined hundreds of thousands of Americans in speaking out against the blatant discrimination that the Boy Scouts of America teaches young adults today,” Graddick said. “It’s clear that this outdated policy will be changing in the future. How long will the Boy Scouts continue to bully young gay Americans into hiding who they are and hurt children of gay parents by denying their parents an opportunity to participate in their children’s lives?”
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It’s almost election time. He’s getting good at saying stuff.
That is awesome. All Americans deserve to be treated with dignity and respect!! :) Period!!
Good
yes we deserve dignity and respect
I can’t believe we have a president who stands up for us. I honestly never thought the day would come. It’s an amazing feeling for me, still.
Well there isn’t much to do. The supreme court (friggin’ idiot) up held there right since they are a “private” club. Maybe they should start a “gay” boy scouts of America?
Maybe they should lose their tax exemption stats under the Supreme Court finding in Joe Brown University v. United States (1983).
Yet they have allowed child molesters for years and years!
Of course it’s discriminatory, but aren’t there bigger things the president should be concerned about? Particularly Syria?
pride comes in many forms yall! lets keep the support for the cause
F*ck everyone who says Obama is “just saying this to get votes”. I believe he is being honest. I hope he gets re-elected :) No one should be banned from something they wanna do.
wow wish some of you would realize you don’t have to vote for a democrat to be accepted and loved for who you are.
“bigger things” is relative and subjective
I’m concerned that this is an attempt to develop a hypothetical normative… if X is bigger, then he should not address Y
…or an attempt to minimize the significance of Y within its constituency
I’m sorry leave Syria alone and worry about our own damn country. Fix the idiots over here first
thats good i am proud of him, but i wish he would let the people/community try to influence change and make change before he uses his power and money to do it
As a child, I was beaten up and forced to leave the boy scouts because I was perceived to be gay. Thank you, President Obama.
Our President is helping to put a stop on unnecessary hatred which is detrimental to YOUR CHILD’S FUTURE and the future of this great country.