A majority of Americans support the Boy
Scouts of America's (BSA) ban on gay leaders, a USA Today/Gallup
poll has found.
According to the survey, conducted
between November 26-29, 52 percent of respondents said the “Boy
Scouts of America should not allow openly gay adults to serve as Boy
Scout leaders.” Forty-two percent said the BSA should lift its
ban, while 6 percent said they had no opinion.
The same respondents, however,
overwhelmingly support inheritance rights (78%) and insurance
benefits (77%) for gay spouses. Sixty-one percent said they approve
of adoption rights for gay men and lesbians. And 53 percent endorsed
the legalization of gay marriage.
Gallup
noted in releasing its data: “Less than half of Americans …
support the idea of openly gay adults as Boy Scout leaders. Given
the lack of a trend on this question, it is not clear whether support
is higher than in the past, or the degree to which the lack of
support may reflect respondents' reluctance to say how a private
organization should decide who holds its position of leadership.”