The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organisation, released the following statement after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign refused to answer a question from a Washington Post columnist about whether Walker “thought children needed to be protected from gay men.”
According to the story, Walker’s spokesperson “did not respond.”
HRC’s Senior Vice President of Policy and Political Affairs JoDee Winterhof released the following statement:
“Scott Walker claims to be a new face on the national stage, but he’s introducing himself to a national audience with an outdated and offensive idea. He and his campaign should answer this simple, straightforward question: Does he think we pose a threat to the health and safety of children? Yes or no? His campaign’s attempt to duck this simple question is unworthy of a candidate who is seeking an office that is responsible for representing all Americans – including LGBT people.”
Yesterday, Walker asserted that he supports the Boy Scouts of America (BSA)’s current discriminatory policy that bars gay, lesbian and bisexual adults from serving as employees and troop leaders because it “protected” children.
Earlier this year, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) President and former Secretary of Defense under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Robert Gates, characterised BSA’s discriminatory policies as “unsustainable.” The Boy Scouts of America last year began allowing openly gay youth to participate in the organisation as scouts, thanks in large part to grassroots work by Scouts for Equality and its executive director Zach Wahls, and advocacy by supportive scouts, scout leaders, and scouting parents.
Photo By Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons