Robert Gates, the new president of the Boy Scouts of America, said Friday that he would have moved last year to allow openly gay adults in the organization but said he opposes any further attempts to address the policy now, according to Reuters.
Gates took over an organization this week that serves about 2.5 million youth but faces continued membership declines and fights over its inclusion of openly gay boys, but not adults, Reuters reported.
Gates, the former secretary of defense who oversaw the end of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, addressed those issues Friday, a day after Scouting's national leadership elected him president, according to Reuters.
The BSA's National Council voted at last year's annual meeting to accept openly gay youth, after a months long process with protests on both sides, Reuters reported. Gates planned to tell Scouting's leaders Friday that a continued fight over the issue threatens BSA's future.
"Given the strong feelings - the passion - involved on both sides of this matter, I believe strongly that to re-open the membership issue or try to take last year's decision to the next step would irreparably fracture and perhaps even provoke a formal, permanent split in this movement - with the high likelihood neither side would subsequently survive on its own," Gates said in prepared remarks, according to Reuters.
Gates, 70, who also served as director of the CIA, is a visible advocate for Scouting as it faces a storm of bad publicity, Reuters reported.
The Scouts reached out to Gates as he was retiring from the Defense Department and asked him to join their leadership, said Wayne Perry, the departing BSA president, according to Reuters.
Gates earned his Eagle Scout award as a 15-year-old growing up in Wichita, Kansas, Reuters reported. He has long credited that achievement for giving him the confidence to excel in nearly five decades of public service, and he stayed involved in Scouting during his career.
Gates said he would emphasize to sponsors that "welcoming gay youth is an important step forward," according to Reuters.
Gates led the Defense Department when it phased out the ban on openly gay soldiers known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," something gay-rights groups have cited as a hopeful sign for them, Reuters reported. Gates said Friday that the Scouts were different from the CIA or the military, where "I could give an order and people would follow it, at least most of the time."
In an organization driven almost entirely by volunteers, officials have to respect differences in opinion, he said, according to Reuters.
"The key at this point is to keep focus, again, on the top priority, which is, how do we develop the best possible program for kids, and how do we keep their interests at the forefront?" Gates said, Reuters reported.
