Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
approves of the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay scouts and
leaders, saying it will protect boys from abuse.
On Tuesday, the organization said it
was upholding the policy after conducting a confidential two-year
review.
(Related: George
Takei calls hogwash on Boy Scouts gay ban.)
On his The Mike Huckabee Show,
Huckabee agreed with a caller who said gays target groups such as the
Boy Scouts.
“I believe homosexuals try to target
groups like that, to get a leadership area in, and if there hadn't
have been a homosexual in my troop, I wouldn't have been traumatized
for about three years,” the caller stated.
“I think if anybody wants to argue
about this case, they need to hear your story. That's very powerful.
I thank you for having the candor to share it with us, and again,
you make us all understand why the Boy Scouts made a decision that I
at least think was the right one,” Huckabee said.
Writing at ThinkProgess.org, Zack Ford
called the comments “offensive and harmful.”
“Drawing a connection between
homosexuality and pedophilia is the same weak argument John Briggs
was making 40 years ago in an attempt to ban gay teachers in
California. It's unfounded slander against the entire gay
community,” he
wrote.
“If conservatives like Huckabee
believe that banning gays helps protect young people from adult
abuse, even that fallacious argument does nothing to explain the
value of discriminating against other young people,” he added.