Boy Scouts’ President Calls for End to Ban on Gay Leaders

Robert M. Gates, the president of the Boy Scouts of America and former secretary of defense, called on Thursday to end the Scouts' ban on gay adult leaders, warning the group's executives that "we must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be."

Speaking at the Boy Scouts' annual national meeting in Atlanta, Mr. Gates said cascading events—including potential employment discrimination lawsuits and the impending Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, as well as mounting internal dissent over the exclusionary policy—had led him to conclude that the current rules "cannot be sustained."