Rick Santorum: Boy Scouts Shouldn't Allow Gays

Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum has long spoken out against gay rights, a moral standpoint he believes must apply to the Boy Scouts of America.

Santorum came out with a statement after the Boy Scouts of America executive board announced it would reconsider the controversial national ban on gay membership it agreed upon seven months ago, according to CBS News.

“[W]hen I saw that the Boy Scouts of America executive board is convening on Wednesday to discuss abandoning the organization’s founding moral principles that nurture boys into men, I was saddened, but not surprised,” he stated in a column Monday on the conservative site WorldNetDaily.

Santorum said he believes the Boy Scouts are reconsidering its stance due to pressure from popular culture and "the intolerant liberal mind."

President Barack Obama addressed the issue on Sunday in his pre-Super Bowl CBS interview, saying that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, should have the opportunity to be a member of the Boy Scouts of America.

Other conservatives have joined Santorum's fight. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), an Eagle Scout, said he believes the organization should not bend to conform to liberal ideals and stay strong in its no-gays policy. The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer also spoke out against the potential lifting of the ban, tweeting that "a homosexual does not belong in the same tent with young boys."