Video: Bill Gates: Boy Scouts should ‘absolutely’ lift its anti-gay ban ‘because it’s 2013’
Philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has said an interview that the Boy Scouts of America should “absolutely” lift its ban on gay volunteers, members and staff.
In the video, posted by ABC news, the billionaire philanthropist is asked what he learned from being in the Boy Scouts himself when he was younger, to which he jokingly responds by listing skills learned.
He says: “How to tie knots. How to weave baskets. How to hike long distances without complaining too much. How to cook food in rainy, drizzly places where we carried the food in 20 miles.”
When asked by interviewer Politico’s Washington DC bureau chief, Mike Allen whether the Boy Scouts of America should lift its ban, he quickly responds: “Absolutely.”
When asked why, he simply responds: “Because it’s 2013,” to which the audience gives a rapturous applause.
The national Boy Scouts of Americas board previously postponed from making a decision, but is meeting in May, and is expected to decide on the policy then. It is considering lifting its national ban on allowing gay volunteers, members and staff, which would effectively allow individual scout troops to decide on whether to be inclusive or not.
