Old thread resurrected.

https://www.breitbart.com/soci...tm_campaign=20250210

115-Year-Old Boy Scouts of America Ditches Name to Be More ‘Gender-Neutral’

The official change happened on Saturday and the organization is now called Scouting America, according to Fox News.

In 2013, the organization began allowing gay young people to join and later ended a ban on gay adult leaders, the article continued:

President and CEO Roger Krone told the Associated Press there was “some backlash,” but said there was a small spike in membership after announcing the rebranding in May.

“The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it,” Krone told the AP.

In recent years, the organization also grappled with bankruptcy and the biggest child sex abuse case involving a national group in America’s history, USA Today reported Saturday.

The updated name is now featured on the organization’s website. Under its “Diversity” point, the site reads, “The BSA promotes a culture where youth, volunteers, and employees feel a sense of belonging — where every person feels respected and valued.”

In May, NBC Bay Area reported the organization allowed girls to join several years prior and featured one young woman who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout when she was 14:

Reverend Franklin Graham in 2017 urged all churches to end their association with the Boy Scouts after the Mormon church removed its teen boys from the organization, according to Breitbart News.

“Churches should always stand with teachings that align with the Word of God. Two years ago the Boy Scouts of America voted to allow gay leaders and then this year began to allow members based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex, opening the door to transgender members,” he wrote in a social media post.

“I think the Mormon Church — and all churches — should pull out of the Boy Scouts organization completely. They need to get their younger boys out as well. I would not want my child or grandchild to be influenced by the lifestyle of a gay Scout Leader that goes against God’s design for creation,” he added.

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“I think the Mormon Church — and all churches — should pull out of the Boy Scouts organization completely. They need to get their younger boys out as well. I would not want my child or grandchild to be influenced by the lifestyle of a gay Scout Leader that goes against God’s design for creation,” he added.

What about the leaders who are straight and want to influence the children in the right ways?

I just went to the Boy Scouts website and it is indeed changed. It's sad that so much effort, time and money is being put toward these changes and not focusing on the boys.

FWIW my limited interactions with a local Boy Scout troop have shown zero of these changes. My nephew did his Eagle project a year ago and time I spent time with him and other scouts and again saw only what I grew up with in scouting. Now what will happen going forward we will see. I hope local troops can retain what scouting is and just ignore these changes.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

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“I think the Mormon Church — and all churches — should pull out of the Boy Scouts organization completely. They need to get their younger boys out as well. I would not want my child or grandchild to be influenced by the lifestyle of a gay Scout Leader that goes against God’s design for creation,” he added.

What about the leaders who are straight and want to influence the children in the right ways?

If Breitbart had recycled a slightly less-old quote, it might have observed that the Mormons separated from BSA more than five years ago. That was actually a big influence on the organization needing to be more inclusive in order to gain scouts. It's also been a long time since it was cashed "Boy Scouts."

The Girl Scouts sell Cookies, That are loaded with chemicals and are highly processed. The Boy Scouts sell really shitty popcorns. I have not supported either organizations for the past 5 years.

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Originally posted by downtownv:
The Girl Scouts sell Cookies, That are loaded with chemicals and are highly processed.

GSA has also been in bed with Planned Parenthood for decades. Where's all that cookie money going? You guessed it. Straight into the pockets of the organization teaching your daughters that murdering babies is a "reproductive right"...along with a whole lot of other sick shit.

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Originally posted by downtownv:
The Boy Scouts sell really shitty popcorns.

True, the popcorn truly isn't very good.
The last Scout who came around to the house selling it got a donation to the troop rather than a popcorn order.

As an Eagle Scout and former adult Scout leader, I've been very disappointed in many of the changes that the national organization has made over the past ten to fifteen years, but the good news is that many local troops, districts, and councils continue to operate to try to provide good opportunities for the boys (and, in some cases, girls). Our church's troop is a boys-only troop and it was great hearing about some of their recent activities on Scout Sunday and about the number of younger boys in our two sponsored packs who can't wait to join.

That said, I saw a couple of girls wearing (boy) Scout uniforms at a store recently with their mom so I introduced myself and asked them how they liked the Scouting program. They said they love it and its focus. The mom told me privately that they'd tried Girl Scouts but it hadn't been for her girls, whereas the (boy) Scout program offered what they wanted without the feminist indoctrination (that wasn't the phrase she used but I think it was what she meant).

If Scouting America can continue to offer a good program to the boys at the local level, appeal to some of the girls, and protect them all from potential predators, maybe the organization can reverse some of the membership loses of recent years and survive. That's my hope, anyway.

The vast majority of scouting organizations worldwide are coed and most always have been or have been for a long time. Girls in scouting is not a problem. I have some issues with how it was implemented, but it's overall a very good thing. And Girl Scouts, at least in the experience of many, isn't really "scouting."

Not only does the popcorn suck, it's overpriced, and most of the money doesn't go to the unit. A $10 donation to the unit is way better for everyone than a $20 popcorn purchase.

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I saw a couple of girls wearing (boy) Scout uniforms at a store recently with their mom so I introduced myself and asked them how they liked the Scouting program. They said they love it and its focus. The mom told me privately that they'd tried Girl Scouts but it hadn't been for her girls, whereas the (boy) Scout program offered what they wanted without the feminist indoctrination (that wasn't the phrase she used but I think it was what she meant).

If Scouting America can continue to offer a good program to the boys at the local level, appeal to some of the girls, and protect them all from potential predators, maybe the organization can reverse some of the membership loses of recent years and survive. That's my hope, anyway.
***

Fair enough.
But I do wish there was still a Boy Scout program, for boys to be boys...
But for the girls, the Girl Scouts has become so feminist that I wouldn't want my daughter joining.
So I get why they would join the (boy) Scouts.

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But I do wish there was still a Boy Scout program, for boys to be boys...

There is. The troop we belong to is an all boy troop, no girls, no moms. They have stated that so long as its leadership remains, they will not become a coed troop. So it seems to me as with most observations Scouting related, what you see in your area isn't always the way it is everywhere else. The local leadership plays a big role in determining how the troop is structured, what they do for fundraising, etc.

At summer camp we have seen all boy troops, all girl troops, and coed troops. We have also had girls in our Cub Scout program, but only one has crossed over and she quit shortly thereafter.

Since this old topic came up, I still maintain that this is a fantastic change. Boy Scouts as an organization has changed, and will probably continue to do so. You have to shop around to find the right troop, but then again you always needed to do so because the quality of the troop and it's values have always been completely dependent on the quality of the adult leadership of that troop. There are integrated troops, but most are still either boy troops or girl troops.

I'm an Eagle Scout, and scouting played a large role in making me into the man I am today. I always thought the Girl Scouts programming sounded like it sucked while I was in scouts, and I was glad I was a boy so I could do Boy Scouts instead of Girls Scouts. I ended up with a son, but if I had had a girl I would have been really excited that she had the ability to experience the programming of the Boy Scouts rather than the Girl Scouts.

The absurdity of the woke agenda has pushed even the most checked out of people too see that things have gone too far, and I have hope for the future that Boy Scouts will be able to reevaluate their organization and get back to their roots, now with the added ability to help build strong foundations for the young women of the newest generations,

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Originally posted by Dallas239:
The vast majority of scouting organizations worldwide are coed and most always have been or have been for a long time. Girls in scouting is not a problem. I have some issues with how it was implemented, but it's overall a very good thing. And Girl Scouts, at least in the experience of many, isn't really "scouting."

Not only does the popcorn suck, it's overpriced, and most of the money doesn't go to the unit. A $10 donation to the unit is way better for everyone than a $20 popcorn purchase.

Current Scouting leader here with eleven years in the program. Can't argue with any of that (hint: don't buy the popcorn, buy the chocolate--it's actually not bad)

As you can imagine, I have a lot of opinions about the subject. But I get the angst about girls in boy scouts. My son is currently working on his Eagle project and was in when they made the switch and the boys reacted to it with universal horror. I remember it well. Now that said, it's a lot of ado about nothing in its current implementation.

My son's troop is boy-only. They do have an associated girl troop, but it is a completely separate entity. They each do their own activities and only occasionally interact (which is always met with an interesting mix of fascination and disdain). The boys pretty much never see the girls, and everybody likes it that way fine. Our Scouting leaders are a great mix of just the kind of people you want in this position: LEOs, Naval Academy grads, business owners, lawyers , teachers, etc. In our troop, there are no female leaders. That's not the result of some diktat, but rather just the lay of the land. Boys really don't want their mothers there, and if they do, well getting them away from them is kind of the point.

I've worked with girl troops a little bit, and I think you would be pleased with what you saw. Girl troops are not boy troops. That's both good and bad. But what I do see is real mentorship for the girls from both male and female leaders that is qualitatively different from almost any other experience a young woman is likely to get anywhere else. It's not for every girl. It's not for Disney princesses. They have to learn to work together, whining is looked down upon, and catty bullshit gets stomped out of the gate.

Anecdote: We had a large Court of Honor with a raffle the other day. My 17 year old son was put in charge of the raffle and instructed to deliver the proceeds of the raffle at the end of the day to the Treasurer (a no-nonsense Navy veteran with decades of Scouting experience). The raffle went fine, but at some point the Committee Chair wanted to know where the cash box was. I tracked down my son and asked him where it was. He tells me he told the Treasurer where to find it (wrong answer). It was all a set-up. Both the CC and the Treasurer knew where the box was. But the Treasurer smiled at my son and said "Ben, I might have thought you would have handed it directly to me like I asked you to." So my very red-faced son had to apologize to all three of us for his screw up. There endeth the lesson. He won't do that again. It is as they say, a "safe place to fail".

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Originally posted by Gustofer:

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Originally posted by downtownv:
The Girl Scouts sell Cookies, That are loaded with chemicals and are highly processed.

GSA has also been in bed with Planned Parenthood for decades. Where's all that cookie money going? You guessed it. Straight into the pockets of the organization teaching your daughters that murdering babies is a "reproductive right"...along with a whole lot of other sick shit.

Do you have evidence of this claim? It is preposterous to claim that one non-profit is transferring money to another. You should be able to back that up.

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Originally posted by Dallas239:
The vast majority of scouting organizations worldwide are coed and most always have been or have been for a long time. Girls in scouting is not a problem. I have some issues with how it was implemented, but it's overall a very good thing. And Girl Scouts, at least in the experience of many, isn't really "scouting."

Not only does the popcorn suck, it's overpriced, and most of the money doesn't go to the unit. A $10 donation to the unit is way better for everyone than a $20 popcorn purchase.

Agreed.

And I always make a donation instead of buying popcorn. Our troop, in conjunction with other troops, had a different fund raiser which delivered an item people actually wanted, and which raised a lot of money. It was a local effort with no national involvement.

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Originally posted by Milliron:
and said "Ben, I might have thought you would have handed it directly to me like I asked you to." So my very red-faced son

Nothing leaves a mark on a teenager like a "mild chewing" (chiding?) from a loved and respected adult.

I once got a "mild chewing" from my best friend's dad: "I've known you a long time, and I know you're a much better student than this...." Ouch.

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Originally posted by Milliron:
It is as they say, a "safe place to fail".

And that's what good leadership provides young men and women.

This brought up a memory I have not thought about in years. When I was in Boy Scouts, we were doing our hunter safety course with several other troops and camping on the Fish and Game facility property. Some time after lights out, two boys were continuing to talk loudly and make a lot of noise in their tent. Scout Master gave them two warnings. As he was also an instructor for Fish and Game he had access to the building and went and got a boar head mount off the wall. He went up to the fly on their tent making soft grunting pig sounds. As soon as he heard the zipper go up, he shoved the boar head into the tent making LOUD squealing pig sounds. The screams of horror and the clawing at the back of the tent were epic. Scout Master then said "Happy? Now try to sleep."

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Originally posted by Gustofer:
GSA has also been in bed with Planned Parenthood for decades. Where's all that cookie money going? You guessed it. Straight into the pockets of the organization teaching your daughters that murdering babies is a "reproductive right"...along with a whole lot of other sick shit.

Back 20 years ago, in 2004, the CEO of GSUSA stated on the Today Show- "We have relationships with our church communities, with the YMCAs and with Planned Parenthood organizations across the country", the operative word is relationship. The Girl Scouts of USA is a member (and pays over $1.5 million in annual membership) of the leftist group The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), which has a partnership with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and promotes free access to abortion. Needless to say, the GSUSA has an interest in abortion, and with its payment to WAGGGS, indirectly funds Planned Parenthood.

https://milifespan.org/planned-parenthood/

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Originally posted by downtownv:
The Boy Scouts sell really shitty popcorns.

Our troop sold light bulbs. The associated cub pack sold highway flares.

My troop has remained boys only and hasn't seen any changes other than the introduction of a couple new merit badges.

If a troop.remains all boys or all girls, i see it as a positive. However I did experience a co-ed troop at a summer camp a few yrs back that changed the whole dynamic for the negative, the girls were dressing inappropriately and causing a lot of distraction for the boys. Lots of drama. We discovered their scoutmaster was a super woke lesbian who i assume joined to be a disruption.

My daughter joined an all girls troop and earned her Eagle rank in 2023. While I wasn't initially thrilled about the switch to allow girls, I'm glad my daughter got to get involved and experience this type of scouting rather than the girl scouts version.

Overall a think the organization still has a lot to offer and am a little disappointed so many have decided to throw the organization under the bus. I've been very vocal with the organization about changes in don't like such as trying to introduce DEI and they've been receptive to feedback.