Obama, Romney Call for End to Boy Scouts’ LGBT Discrimination

It’s rare that Mitt Romney and Barack Obama agree on anything, but both presidential candidates have called for the Boy Scouts of America to end its discriminatory practice of banning LGBT Scouts and leaders. The organization affirmed its policy of discriminating against gay members last month.

President Obama is the honorary president of the Boy Scouts, while Romney formerly served on the organization’s national executive board.

Metro Weekly:

In an email from Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul to the Associated Press, Saul said that Romney’s position on gay membership is the same as it was when he ran for Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts in 1994.

At a debate with Kennedy during that race, Romney said that while he supported the right of the BSA to determine their own policies, he personally believes “all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”

…White House spokesman Shin Inouye confirmed that President Obama opposes the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay members and leaders. In an email to Metro Weekly, Inouye writes, “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. He also opposes discrimination in all forms, and as such opposes this policy that discriminates on basis of sexual orientation.”

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— Posted by Tracy Bloom.