Jesus Christ, give this guy a closet already.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said yesterday (Sunday, July 19) the Boy Scouts would be “better off” without openly gay or bisexual Scoutmasters.
The Republican, who is now making his second presidential bid, made the remarks on NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday (Sunday, July 19).
The Irving-based Boy Scouts of America, now lead by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, recently repealed the organization’s ban on openly gay or bisexual leadership.
“You wrote this in a book in 2008. And it was about scouting. And you said this: ‘Openly active gays, particular 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.’ Do you still stand by that statement?,” host Chuck Todd asked.
“I do,” he replied. “I believe that scouting would be better off, if they didn’t have openly gay scoutmasters.”
Fellow Republican candidate and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recently made a similar comment before backtracking on CNN.
In 2013, the organization lifted its ban on allowing openly gay or bisexual scouts.
The interview can be found below:
