Scott Walker Says Gay Troop Leader Ban Protected Boy Scouts

Scott Walker—presidential candidate, governor of Wisconsin, and noted hot ham enthusiast—has spoken out against the Boy Scouts of America’s recent push to allow gay troop leaders. “I have had a lifelong commitment to the Scouts and support the previous membership policy because it protected children and advanced Scout values,” he told conservative blog, the Independent Journal Review.

On Friday, July 10, the Boy Scouts executive board voted unanimously to end the organization’s long-running ban on gay troop leaders. (Individually, the Scout’s more homophobic troops could still potentially deny gay leaders, but it would no longer be a national edict.) Later this month, the national executive board will debate the issue.

“I’m an Eagle Scout. My kids were in Scouts. My mom was a den mother. I think their previous policy was personally fine,” Walker, an adult man who seemingly can’t shut the fuck up about his Eagle Scout days, said at a Harley Davidson event.

Later, his spokeswoman AshLee Strong released a statement to clarify (that yes, Scott Walker is a total butt):

“The previous policy protected Scouts from the rancorous political debate over policy issues and culture wars. Scouts should not be used as a political football on issues that can often be heated and divisive.”

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, replied with a statement of his own, which was then published in the Washington Post:

“Scott Walker’s suggestion that the Boy Scouts of America’s current discriminatory policy somehow ‘protects’ children from gay adults is offensive, outrageous, and absolutely unacceptable. His comments imply that we represent a threat to the safety and well-being of young people.”

This is not the first time that Walker’s anti gay agenda has flared in recent memory. Last month, the governor called the SCOTUS gay marriage ruling a “grave mistake.”