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Artist News
Jepsen and Train pull out of US Scouts show over gay ban policy
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 6 March 2013
Carly Rae Jepsen and Train have both pulled out of a concert being held as part of an upcoming jamboree staged by the Boy Scouts Of America movement because of the American organisation’s ban on gay members.
The US scouting movement’s ban on gay people joining or working for the organisation has become increasingly controversial in recent years (more so than its bans on atheists, agnostics and girls), despite the group’s right to have such discriminatory policies being upheld in the American courts. Both candidates in last year’s US presidential election publicly criticised the policy, and recent reports suggest that there are now developments occurring within the scouting movement that might bring an end to the ban.
But for the time being it remains, resulting in campaigners calling on both Jepsen and American rockers Train to pull out of the Scouts’ July festivities as soon as their involvement was confirmed. Train were first to announce they had withdrawn from the jamboree show on the basis of the scouting organisation’s discriminatory policies on gay members, with Jepsen following suit yesterday.
In a series of tweets, Jepson wrote: “As an artist who believes in equality for all people, I will not be participating in the Boy Scouts Of America Jamboree this summer. I always have and will continue to support the LGBT community on a global level and stay informed on the ever changing landscape in the ongoing battle for gay rights in this country and across the globe”.