Rick Perry: Boy Scouts ‘Would Be Better Off’ Without Gay Adult Scout Leaders (Video)

Watch as Rick Perry continues his assault on gay people.

Former Texas governor Rick Perry decided to weigh in on this past week’s announcement by the Boy Scouts of America that they will be voting on removing a ban on gay adult Scout leaders. The decades-old ban is discriminatory and inconsistent with American values today, especially after the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the EEOC’s ruling this week that lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees are protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“I believe that scouting would be better off, if they didn’t have openly gay scoutmasters,” Perry, currently running for the White House, told NBC News’ Chuck Todd in an interview that aired Sunday morning.

Todd had asked Perry if he stood by remarks he made seven years ago, in 2008, when he claimed that “openly active gays, particularly 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.”

LOOK: Now That He’s Running For President, Let’s Look At Rick Perry’s Worst Comments About Gay People

The quote Chuck Todd read to Perry comes from the Governor’s 2008 book on Scouting, On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting for. In that book, Perry also wrote, 

Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink. And, even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex, he or she still makes a choice to engage in sexual activity with someone of the same gender.

Perry’s remarks are consistent with comments he has made throughout his political career, including about gay scouts.

In 2013, Perry said that gay youth and teens should be banned from Scouting because the Boy Scouts reduces teen pregnancy. Addressing a large group of Boy Scouts in Texas, Governor “Perry told the youngsters that the Scouts was a key reason he joined the U.S. Air Force and later sought public office, and that society’s failure to adhere to the organization’s core values was a cause for high rates of teen pregnancy and wayward youth who grow up to be ‘men joining their fathers in prison.'”

 

Image: Screenshot via NBC News