Transgender youth targeted by Hegseth’s US Scouting changes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scouting America will change several policies at the behest of the Pentagon, including one aimed at transgender youth, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday, as he pushes a campaign against the military’s support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Department of Defense 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 children of military personnel.

Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, denouncing its historic 2024 rebranding of the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of the efforts of a “woke culture” it wants to eradicate.

Hegseth said in a video posted on

“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could happen,” Hegseth said. “Ideally, the Boy Scouts would go back to being the Boy Scouts they were originally founded, a group that turns boys into men. Maybe one day.”

Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

In a statement issued Friday, Scouting America did not mention the policy change targeting transgender youth, but 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 said it kept its new name Scouting America 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 against gay adult leaders in 2015 and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting girls as Cub Scouts beginning in 2018 and into the Boy Scout flagship 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 gathering at or near military installations in the U.S. and abroad.

“Scouting America is one of the most trusted conduits to the United States Armed Forces our country has ever known,” the organization added. “Scouts are much more likely to serve in uniform than the general population. Eagle Scouts are strongly represented in ROTC programs, service academies, and military leadership tracks.”

The Pentagon said in a statement earlier this month that it was reviewing its relationship with Scouting America, saying it had “lost its way” in many ways and calling the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts “unacceptable.”

“Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values ​​of this administration,” the Feb. 6 statement said, “including the adoption of LED and other social justice and gender fluid ideological positions.”

The Pentagon previously said it and Scouting America were nearing an agreement to continue their partnership if the organization “rapidly implements common-sense core values ​​reforms.”

“Scouting in the United States remains far from perfect, but it is firmly committed to returning to fundamental principles,” the statement said. “Back to God and country, immediately!”

The US military and the Boy Scouts have long had ties, including the military’s logistical support of the National Boy Scout Jamboree since its inception in 1937.

The Army also has a long history of sponsoring troops and scouting activities on U.S. military bases and has maintained a strong relationship with the Eagle Scouts, whose members often enlist in the armed forces.

In a statement last year, Scouting America expressed concern following an NPR report that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as the National Jamboree and would eliminate pay grade increases for enlisting Eagle Scouts.

The Scouts told Hegseth in January that after listening to his suggestions, they had put together a plan for him to review, which included discontinuing his Society Citizenship merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, waiving registration fees for military personnel and holding a ceremony to rededicate himself to leadership, duty to God, duty to country and service, as well as dissolving his DEI board committee.

Photo AP/LM Otero

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America achieved vaunted status in the US over the decades, with Pinewood Derbies, Scout Oath and Eagle Scouts becoming part of the lexicon.

American businessman William Boyce is said to have been inspired to start the organization after getting lost in the fog in London and being guided to his destination by a young man who refused a tip and told Boyce that because he was an explorer (they formed in Britain in 1907) he could not accept money for a good deed.

Since then, the organization has faced controversies and undergone major changes.

In 1990, the organization expelled an Eagle Scout who had become an assistant scoutmaster after discovering that he was co-president of his college’s gay and lesbian organization. He sued in 1992 alleging discrimination and lost in the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Scouts could maintain membership and leadership criteria that excluded homosexuals.

Conservative groups supported the Boy Scouts, but dozens of institutions reduced their support as the ban continued. The ban ended in 2013. In 2015, the organization ended its blanket ban against gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.

In 2017, the Boy Scouts announced that they would allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll in their boys-only programs. This came after an 8-year-old boy was asked to leave his Scout troop in New Jersey after parents and leaders discovered he was transgender.

The Boy Scouts also faced a deluge of sexual abuse claims and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, when they had been named in about 275 lawsuits and had told insurers they were aware of another 1,400 claims.

In 2023, a judge upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan that allowed the organization to continue operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed complaints alleging they had been sexually abused while they were scouts.

Last year, Scouting America President and CEO Roger Krone acknowledged some negative reactions to the rebranding, but described the overall response as positive that generated broader interest.

“The fact that we chose a more gender-neutral name made a lot of people want to know more about it,” Krone said.

The organization said it saw an increase in membership of about 16,000 new explorers, less than 2% from the previous year. The organization said at the time it had just over 1 million members.

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Stengle reported from Dallas. News writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.