Madonna Slams Boy Scouts, Putin At GLAAD Awards [Video]

by uInterviewMarch 19, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Madonna took aim at the Boy Scouts Association while presenting an award to TV host and reporter Anderson Cooper at the GLAAD Awards on Saturday night.

Decked out in a Boy Scout uniform, Madonna railed against the organization that prohibits gay people from joining or serving as scout masters. “I wanted to be a Boy Scout, but they wouldn’t let me join,” she said during her diatribe. “I think that’s f–ked up. I know how to build a fire. I can pitch a tent … most importantly, I know how to scout for boys,” she added, imbuing some satire into her remarks.

The pop icon concluded her 10-minute-speech with a line that summed the entire thing up: “I think the Boy Scouts should change their stupid rules.” She’s not the only musician to voice her disapproval of the Boy Scouts' anti-gay policies. Recently, both Train and Carly Rae Jepsen pulled out of attending their annual jamboree over the matter. Software pioneer Bill Gates has also spoken out against the Boy Scouts’ discrimination.

The organization has maintained, throughout the backlash on their stance against gays within their ranks, that people are entitled to their opinions. A spokesperson responded to a request to comment on Madonna’s latest remarks, saying, “The BSA does not have a reaction,” according to Entertainment Weekly. In May, the board is scheduled to meet to discuss a potential reversal of the ban.

Madonna took others to task besides the BSA. She had some disapproving words for those who tolerate bullying, and those who practice religious intolerance. Russian president Vladimir Putin, who allowed the imprisonment of Pussy Riot, figured as a prominent target for the singer. “If President Putin sat in a room with Pussy Riot — he’d probably want to f–k all of them, but anyways. If he did [meet with them] and he had an open dialogue with them about their point of view as young, creative women growing up in modern-day Russia, would he really have allowed them to be dragged away to prison for three years? I mean, think about it, this is insane.”

Check out Madonna’s public lashing of the Boy Scouts, Putin and more below: