The Boys Scouts of America has announced that it’s changing its name to Scouting America, sparking vitriol from conservatives who seemingly only just realized that the scouting organization is a bit more inclusive than they thought.
On May 7, the organization announced it was changing its name for the first time in its 115-year history. The change is meant to reflect the Boy Scouts’ inclusive nature. It’s understandable it wants to highlight its inclusivity as, in the past, it has lagged in this area. For decades, the organization adhered to a strict anti-LGBTQ+ policy, which barred any members of the community from joining as either scouts or leaders. Over the years, the discrimination sparked several lawsuits, such as one filed in 1999 by James Dale after he was booted from the Boy Scouts for his sexual identity after spending 12 years participating in and serving the organization. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts’ right to bar LGBTQ+ individuals from attaining membership.
It wasn’t until 2013 that the organization finally voted to allow LGBTQ+ youth to join Boy Scouts. However, the decision was criticized because it upheld the ban on LGBTQ+ leaders. Even in 2015, when the leadership ban was lifted, many remained concerned about inclusivity. To this day, many troops are sponsored by religious organizations which reserve the right to reject leaders based on religious beliefs. Still, the end of the ban marked a big step in inclusivity. Additionally, girls have been increasingly joining Boy Scouts since 2019. Most recently, a flood of sexual abuse claims, bankruptcy, and dwindling membership numbers have driven the organization to bolster its recruitment efforts however possible.
Oddly, conservatives are only now taking issue with the changes.
Conservative backlash arises over name change
Boy Scouts’ new name, Scouting America, will go into effect on February 8, 2025, which marks the organization’s 115th anniversary. Roger A. Krone, president and chief executive officer, described the change as “the next natural step” in Boy Scouts’ evolution. After all, nothing about the organization is actually changing besides the name. It will maintain its same policies and continue welcoming girls and members of the LGBTQ+ community, as it has been doing for years. However, conservatives got wind of the news and immediately began melting down over it.
“Girl Scouts” and “Boy Scouts” quickly started trending on X, with conservatives calling for a boycott of both organizations while raising hysteria over how they’re going “woke” and “indoctrinating” children. The posts grew quite unhinged and hysterical, with users bemoaning how Boy Scouts was lost to the “satanic agenda” and that it marked the “dismantling of America.”
Others have been spreading false information that the name change is supposedly because the organization thinks the word “boy” is offensive or that the change is strictly about gender. They also claim that Boy Scouts doesn’t “exist” anymore, even though it’s the same organization with a new name. A few even tried to project their feelings on their children, claiming their sons were supposedly “disgusted” by the news.
The amount of drama and hysteria is quite perplexing over a simple name change. As mentioned above, LGBTQ+ individuals have been welcomed for over a decade. Additionally, girls started joining specific programs, like Venturing, Sea Scouting, and Explorers, as far back in the 1970s. However, in recent years, they’ve been accepted more widely into the organization, with over 6,000 girls now having attained the coveted rank of Eagle Scouts. The name change is largely to remind girls that, yes, they can join Boy Scouts and have been able to do so for years. Many girls enjoy the activities and opportunities that Boy Scouts provide. It’s estimated there are currently well over 100,000 girls in the organization.
Didn’t conservatives imply that the entire organization would go under if girls were allowed in, though? Yet, there are 100,000+ girls who have been a part of Boy Scouts for years, and there are no reports of adverse effects or the whole organization simply passing away because of the presence of girls. In fact, a large part of the reason Boy Scouts is changing its name is because it’s desperately trying to gain more members after its horrific sexual abuse scandal.
For decades, the organization has faced lawsuits and reports of high rates of sexual abuse. It wasn’t until 2020, though, that many became aware of the extent of abuse when the National Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy and revealed in its filing over 92,000 reports of sexual abuse. The organization eventually reached a $2.64 billion settlement with survivors of abuse. Naturally, the news led to millions of Boy Scouts and leaders withdrawing membership from the organization. Its numbers are dwindling so badly that emphasizing its inclusivity may actually help save the Boy Scouts.
Conservatives often like to push the false and offensive narrative that sexual abuse cases arose after LGBTQ+ members were allowed in, even though the vast majority of cases took place during the ban. Additionally, investigations found that it was actually the Church of the Latter-day Saints (Boy Scouts’ single largest sponsor until 2020) that contributed to abuse by actively covering it up. Conservatives don’t care about any of that, though. They don’t care about the 92,000 sexual abuse reports, the thousands of victims, or the religious organizations that allowed the abuse to happen. Instead, they’re losing it because of a name change.
It’s pretty humorous that these conservatives have seemingly been fine with Boy Scouts for years after it became more inclusive. It almost seems that if inclusivity isn’t explicitly spelled out for them, they never even notice it’s there. Aren’t they currently claiming that America will fall and Boy Scouts will implode if it is inclusive? Yet, it has been inclusive for years, and they never identified any adverse effects and have been happily sending their children to the organization. Perhaps inclusivity isn’t worth all their drama and meltdowns when it existed right under their noses for years, and they literally never noticed a thing.
(featured image: filmstudio / Getty)
