Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry expanded on his beliefs on gay Boy Scout leaders Sunday, saying on Meet the Press that he didn’t think openly gay Scout leaders belonged in the Boy Scouts.
Meet the Press’ Chuck Todd asked Perry, who served as the governor of Texas from 2000–2015, whether his views on openly gay scout leaders had changed since 2008, when he wrote that “openly active gays, particularly advocates, present a problem. Because gay activism is central to their lives, it would unavoidably be a topic of conversation within a Scout troop. This would distract from the mission of Scouting; character building, not sex education.”
Perry said he still stood by that statement.
“I believe that scouting would be better off if they didn’t have openly gay Scout masters,” he said.
Perry also said that he would oppose a new Boy Scouts policy of allowing openly gay Scout leaders — something the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) looks poised to adopt. Earlier this month, the BSA executive committee voted unanimously to end the ban on gay and bisexual adults. If the full national BSA board ratifies the vote on July 27, Boy Scout troops and units will be free to hire openly gay or bisexual leaders if they choose.
The Boy Scouts have already ended the organization’s ban on gay youth, but until recently, the organization didn’t look like it was set to end the ban on gay adults. Then, in May, BSA national president and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in a speech that the organization needed to reconsider the ban on gay adults.
“I support a policy that accepts and respects our different perspectives and beliefs,” Gates said. “I truly fear that any other alternative will be the end of us as a national movement.”
Perry hasn’t had the best record when it comes to LGBT rights. He didn’t support the Boy Scouts’ policy of allowing gay Scouts into the organization. And in 2014, he compared the gay “lifestyle” to alcoholism.
Still, Perry isn’t the only politician to oppose the change to the Boy Scouts policy. Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said earlier this week that the ban on gay leaders “protected children and advanced Scout values” — though he quickly backtracked on the statement, saying that he meant the policy protected children from getting involved in political debates.