Washington ( CNN ) -- Newly elected Boy Scouts of America President Robert Gates on Friday praised the leadership vote last year that welcomed gay youth into scouting . `` In all candor , I would have supported going further , as I did in opening the way for gays to serve in the CIA and in the military , '' the former secretary of defense said in prepared remarks . Gates spoke at the Boy Scouts of America annual meeting in Nashville , TN . Gates , who was also director of the CIA was elected president of the BSA on Thursday . He also holds the rank of Eagle Scout . The Boy Scouts voted in 2013 to include gay youth , but does not allow openly gay adults in the organization . Gates warned that reopening the issue now could `` irreparably fracture and perhaps even provoke a formal , permanent split in the movement -- with the high likelihood neither side would subsequently survive on its own . ''
' I would have considered going further , ' the former defense secretary said . Gates said that the issue would not be reopened to avoid controversy .