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" Robert Gates knows that the Boy Scouts need to change; whether the nationwide network of troops over which he presides supports him is another issue. Gates, the former U.S. Defense Secretary and current president of the Boy Scouts of America, said in an address this morning that the Scouts&amp;#039; current ban on gay leaders must come to an end. While Gates denounced the present &amp;quot;blanket ban,&amp;quot; he was careful not to call for a total overturn of the rule, either, noting that many troops have ties to churches and religious organizations that should retain their influence on a local level.  Below are some key passages from Gates&amp;#039; address, which he delivered this morning in Atlanta: &amp;quot;We cannot ignore growing internal challenges to our current membership policy ... Nor can we ignore the social, political and juridicial changes taking place in our country\u2014changes taking place at a pace over this past year no one anticipated. I remind you of the recent debates we have seen in places like Indiana and Arkansas over discrimination based on sexual orientation, not to mention the impending U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer on gay marriage. ... I must speak as plainly and bluntly to you as I spoke to presidents when I was Director of CIA and Secretary of Defense. We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be. The status quo in our movement&amp;#039;s membership standards cannot be sustained . ... The one thing we cannot do is put our heads in the sand and pretend this challenge will go away or abate. Quite the opposite is happening.&amp;quot; Last fall, Gates told Esquire&amp;#039;s Mike Sager two pieces of advice he&amp;#039;s passed on over the years: &amp;quot;There are more horses&amp;#039; asses than there are horses.&amp;quot; And &amp;quot;You have to make your judgments about people one at a time.&amp;quot; Read that full story here. [H/T: BuzzFeed News] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a35167/boy-scouts-gay-leaders/>