Obama: Scouts should be open to gays and lesbians
By The Associated Press
This article was published February 3, 2013 at 4:50 p.m.
- Comments (22)
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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said the Boy Scouts of America should open its membership to gays and lesbians when its national executive board discusses the issue this week.
Obama praised the scouts as “a great institution” that promotes young people, giving them lifelong leadership training and opportunities. During a pre-Super Bowl interview on CBS, he said “no one should be barred from that.”
The Boy Scouts announced last week it was considering replacing its longstanding ban on gays with a policy to let troop sponsors make their own decision on the issue.
The White House said last summer during the presidential campaign that Obama he opposed the Scouts’ policy of excluding gays as members.
Gay rights activists praised last week’s announcement, while some conservative church groups expressed alarm.
Comments on: Obama: Scouts should be open to gays and lesbians
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pwellis09250734 says... February 3, 2013 at 5:10 p.m.
It's really none of his damn business!!!
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inquire says... February 3, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
The President of the US surely has as much right to speak an opinion as you do!
Perhaps he is right. We all have to learn to function side by side in the real world, in jobs and in other organizations.
If everyone, no matter their sexual persuasion, is behaving, it shouldn't make any difference at at. If anyone, of any sexual persuasion, behaves improperly or creates a distraction, boot them out. That would include bullies who went out of their way to insult those who weren't bothering them in any way.
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T6 says... February 3, 2013 at 5:45 p.m.
Obama is evil to the pit of hell.
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BillSmith says... February 3, 2013 at 6:51 p.m.
T6.......be reeeaaallll sure you understand this verse:
“Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say
to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into
outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12)
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HotSpringsLawyer says... February 3, 2013 at 7 p.m.
I probably mostly agree with the President, but he should not intrude in the affairs of a private organization and its principles. And no, while he is President he should not be expressing mere personal opnions.
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RonalFos says... February 3, 2013 at 8:02 p.m.
T6, Obama has a better chance of being in Heaven than you do. I've never heard him say one hateful thing and that seems to all you spew.
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T6 says... February 3, 2013 at 8:07 p.m.
BS.. Obama has Allah on his wedding ring so surely YOU know GOD and Allah is not one and the same. So I doubt he's a Christian when he has stomped on the Bible as much as he has stomped on the Constitution. I believe it's in 1 Samuel. Surely you know the story about the Priest Eli and his knowing about the iniquities his sons were doing to God's people and what God said he would do to Eli's house because he knew about the things his sons were doing and did not constrain them.
My point is, YOU go along with the evil, lawless things and YOU don't speak out about it. YOU will be held accountable by God above.
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djigoo says... February 3, 2013 at 8:09 p.m.
T6, you're funnier than the comics page. Thank you for all you do to keep the rest of us laughing!
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trafos says... February 3, 2013 at 8:25 p.m.
I hate that the Scouts are feeling like they're being strong armed into letting up on something they believe in. Hang in there. Stick to what you feel is right. This is not something the President needs to be involving himself in.
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djigoo says... February 3, 2013 at 8:31 p.m.
The Scouts aren't feeling strongarmed, IMHO. They're simply accepting that it's 2013, not 1913.
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T6 says... February 3, 2013 at 8:34 p.m.
Djigoo... Glad I could amuse you. Wish I could say the same but unfortunately you tend to make me want to vomit.
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djigoo says... February 3, 2013 at 8:48 p.m.
That tells me I'm on the right track, T6! As long as I'm your Syrup of Ipecac, I'm good.
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T6 says... February 3, 2013 at 9:49 p.m.
Djigoo....Would expect no less from you
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inquire says... February 3, 2013 at 9:58 p.m.
T6, you're got to start checking out those hateful chain emails that go around before passing them on as truth. Snopes can explain that all that nonsense about the wedding ring is just that---nonsense.
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T6 says... February 3, 2013 at 10:23 p.m.
Inquire.. Snopes? Seriously? There are people who say otherwise.
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inquire says... February 3, 2013 at 10:43 p.m.
People spreading that crap are using fuzzy photos to make it look like a foreign inscription. A good, clear photo of the ring clearly shows it is a repeating, uniform, decorative pattern. Nothing more. The picture was shown to people fluent in Arabic and they agree. No other president has had to put up with so much nonsense from the lunatic fringe, to the point of having his wedding ring scrutinized! Can you describe the wedding rings of all the other presidents? Bearing false witness is evil.
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aimee says... February 4, 2013 at 1:47 a.m.
HSLawyer:
.
The President saying that the BSA "should" allow gays in is NOT an "intrusion"... It is common sense such as a number of you here seem to lack...
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Populist says... February 4, 2013 at 5:32 a.m.
People confuse homosexuality with pedophilia. The Boy Scouts need to worry about the pedophiles--not the homosexuals.
People who do not like homosexuals are fighting a losing battle. It is the great civil rights issue of our time. Public opinion on this issue has changed drastically, and the Boy Scouts will change as public pressure mounts. As more and more people come out, everybody realizes that many beloved and valuable members of the community are gay.
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T6 says... February 4, 2013 at 6:21 a.m.
Inquire.... Oh right, a ring with squiggly things on that it is Soooooo inconsequential that he's had it since his early days in college. Was sooo important that he's using it as his WEDDING RING.
Yes there are people who are experts in Arabic that say YOU are wrong, Inquire.
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rainbowharold55 says... February 4, 2013 at 6:28 a.m.
Intrusion? The President of the United States is the honorary President of the BSA. He has EVERY right to weigh in on their homophobia.
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23cal says... February 4, 2013 at 7:48 a.m.
After a two year review, last summer the Boy Scouts decided to retain their discriminatory practice.
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But then a funny thing happened. Corporate sponsors started ditching them. Just like the Scouts as a PRIVATE GROUP gets to make their rules as they wish, Corporations donating to charities get to spend their money as they wish. Usually, they donate where they think it will make them look good, and ---surprise, surprise!!----they have decided that donating to a group that advocates discrimination--gender, race, sexual orientation, or other.----doesn't make them look good. So they stopped donating.
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And Scout central started messing its pants because it didn't realize corporations wouldn't want to support their homophobic policy. So, I guess the answer to " what is wrong if a PRIVATE GROUP that you voluntarily join wants to make RULES that YOU don't like" is "Your financial underwriters might not like those rules, so if you want to keep the money spigot open, you better be careful what those rules say".
The change in policy is purely superficial, to appease the businesses and organizations which have threatened to stop supporting the BSA if it didn’t change its policy. So what do they do? They change it from a top-level-down “No gays” policy, to a “We don’t discriminate, at the top level, but don’t have a problem with discrimination, or discourage it in any way, if our members want to continue to discriminate at the regional or local level” policy. The end result, in most of the country, is that this is purely PR, a change in name, but not in practice.
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inquire says... February 4, 2013 at 8:49 a.m.
T6, if you had bothered to look at close up, in focus, picture of the ring, you would know that it is a repeating design, not letters.
Do you even have any idea of the design or time of purchase of the wedding ring of any other president? Not likely. The fringe right wing, in their irrational hatred of the President, is so hell bent on finding dirt for their scurrilous chain emails that they will grab at straws and make it up if they have to.
The next time you're ranting about evil, remember that the admonition to not bear false witness is one of the ten commandments. They say nothing about wedding rings.
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