Scouting America will alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender youths, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday as he pushes a campaign against military support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Defense Department in January, which included discontinuing its Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge as well as waiving registration fees for the children of military personnel.
Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture” efforts that he wants to root out.
Hegseth said in a video posted on X that the Pentagon will “vigorously review” the changes the organization has made in six months and will cease its support of Scouting America if it fails to comply.
“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could,” Hegseth said. “Ideally I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”
In a statement released Friday, Scouting America didn’t mention the policy change targeting transgender youths, but it noted its need to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump that targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Scouting America, which is based in Irving, Texas, also pointed out that it maintained its new Scouting America name and “preserved our service to the more than 200,000 girls who participate in our programs.”
The organization began allowing gay youth in 2013, ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015 and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting girls as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program — renamed Scouts BSA — in 2019. As of May 2024, more than 6,000 girls had earned the coveted Eagle Scout rank.
Scouting America said the policy changes deepen the organization’s century-old partnership with the military, which has included Scouts meeting on or near military installations in the U.S. and abroad.
The Pentagon said in a statement earlier this month that it was reviewing its relationship with Scouting America, claiming it had “lost its way” in many ways and calling the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts “unacceptable.”
The Pentagon previously said it and Scouting America were nearing an agreement to continue their partnership if the organization “rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms.”
In a statement last year, Scouting America raised concerns following a report from NPR that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as for the National Jamboree and would eliminate increases in pay grade for Eagle Scouts who enlist.
The Scouts told Hegseth in January that after hearing his suggestions, they had come up with a plan for him to review, which included discontinuing their Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, waiving registration fees for military personnel and holding a ceremony to rededicate themselves to leadership, duty to God, duty to country and service, besides dissolving their DEI board committee.
Posted by John3262005