Obama urges boy scouts to lift ban on gays

US president Barack Obama has urged the Boy Scouts of America to lift a controversial national ban on gays.

A meeting of the scouts’ national board began yesterday in Texas to discuss allowing local groups to choose whether to admit gays, after the long-standing ban was re-affirmed last July.

“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life,” Mr Obama, the group’s honorary president, said.

Religious groups, including the Catholic and Mormon churches, are likely to continue to bar gay scouts and leaders at local level regardless of the national board’s decision