Madonna Calls on Boy Scouts to Lift Ban on Gays

Madonna turned up wearing a version of a Boy Scout uniform Saturday night at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York, where she called on the scouting group to lift its ban on gays. "I think they should change the stupid rules," she said.

The singer, no stranger to gay-rights causes, joked that she had wanted to join the Boy Scouts but was turned down, The Associated Press reports. "I can build a fire. I know how to pitch a tent," Madonna said, wearing a blue scouts shirt adorned with troop patches. "I can rescue kittens from trees. Most importantly, I know how to scout for boys."

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The Boy Scouts' prohibition on gay scouts or scout masters has drawn increasing criticism in recent years. Carly Rae Jepsen and Train recently said they would cancel their planned performances at the National Scout Jamboree in July unless the group changed the policy, citing a Change.org petition.

Madonna, who was on hand to present an award to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, also decried the challenges that LGBTQ youth face. 

"When I think about young kids in America who are being bullied and tortured, who are taking their own lives because they feel alone and judged, outcast and misunderstood, I want to sit down and cry a river of tears," Madonna said. She later added, "I can't take this shit anymore. That is why I want to start a revolution. It's 2013 people. We live in America, land of the free and home of the brave? That's a question, not a statement."

Madonna's public opposition last summer to a gay-pride ban in St. Petersburg, Russia, prompted a lawsuit from anti-gay groups. The suit was thrown out last fall.