Romney: The Boy Scouts should admit homosexuals?
 |
| Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, 2008 US presidential candidate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 7, 2012, – Mitt Romney stands by a 1994 statement that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) should admit homosexuals to the organization, as members or adult supervisors, according to a campaign spokesperson.
During a 1994 debate with Ted Kennedy, Romney said, “I support the right of the Boy Scouts of America to decide what it wants to do on that issue. I feel that all people should be able to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul confirmed that Mitt Romney continues to hold that belief today.
However, she said Romney, who served as a member of its executive board, has not pressured the organization to change its stance and does not wish to see the Scouts forced to accept homosexuals. LifeSiteNews.com revealed that some chapters of the Boy Scouts do not consider the national organization’s prohibition of homosexuals serving as scouts or adult leaders binding policy.
The statement came just days after Romney refused to lend verbal support to Chick-fil-A in the face of a boycott.
“It is almost as if the governor is going out of his way to de-motivate the conservative base,” said Bryan Fischer, who hosts “Focal Point” on the American Family Radio Talk network. “In fact, if he deliberately set out to dispirit evangelicals and members of the pro-family network, he could hardly do any worse.”
Click “like” if you want to defend true marriage.
Homosexual organizations seized upon the campaign statement. Zach Wahls, co-founder of Scouts for Equality, an organization dedicated to admitting homosexuals into the Scouts, said in a press release he is “proud to have Governor Romney’s support on this issue amid such a polarized political climate.”
The liberal website ThinkProgress claims the ban is “out-of-step” with “mainstream American values.”
The liberal website ThinkProgress claims the ban is “out-of-step” with “mainstream American values.”
Fischer said Romney’s position had more serious defects. “Social research has revealed that homosexuals sexually offend against minors at exaggerated rates.”
“In fact, according to research published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, they are ten times more likely to molest children than heterosexual men,” he said. “Gov. Romney’s position, if adopted by the BSA, would put the sexual innocence of untold numbers of young boys at risk.”
The move carries political implications for a candidate struggling to attract his party’s base.
“If the Democratic Party is going to take a stand for homosexual marriage and the Republican Party wont stand up for traditional marriage, then they’re abdicating their role in the culture war,” saidformer Reagan adviser Pat Buchanan. He added in time, if left unchecked, “people are going to walk away from the party.”
