DALLAS (AP) — Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was confirmed Thursday as the Boy Scouts of America's new president, taking over one of the nation's largest youth organizations as it fights a membership decline and debates its policy toward gays. The Boy Scouts voted last year to allow openly gay boys in its ranks while continuing to exclude openly gay adult leaders, a compromise that continues to entangle the group in debates over its membership policy. [...] the organization's expulsion of a gay Seattle-area Scoutmaster drew national headlines, and some gay-rights advocates are still urging sponsors to drop the Scouts.