Like any other war, the Culture War has its share of victories and defeats. On May 2, the bad guys celebrated a victory as the Boy Scouts of America announced the removal of the word “boy” from their name. For the older children (ages 11-17) the organization will now be known as Scouts BSA. The name change was announced as part of their new “Scout Me In” campaign, which looks to lure girls to scouting alongside boys.
So far, the Girl Scouts are retaining their name, and will not be admitting boys. No merging of the two groups has been announced or publicly suggested. The name change comes less than a year after the Boy Scouts decided to invite girls to join in their programs.
The Boy Scouts had been under siege for decades over their once-principled stance against having open homosexuals and atheists as members. It’s important to note that the scouts never had a litmus test — they never asked if a boy or a leader was an atheist or a homosexual — but openly gay or atheist males were not allowed.
A 2012 press release stated the position this way: “While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA. Scouting believes same-sex attraction should be introduced and discussed outside of its program with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting.”
This policy was galling to leftist activists, and an organized campaign was started against the Boy Scouts. Bit by bit and for several decades, leftists have been scraping away at the organization and its emphasis on moral character and godliness.
In 1981, former Eagle Scout Tim Curran sued the Boy Scouts for discrimination after he was denied a leadership position because he was openly gay. The case wound its way through the court system unit 1998, when the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the scouts because they were not considered a “business establishment” and, therefore, did not fall under the provisions of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.
In 1990, James Dale was removed from his position as a scout leader in New Jersey when he publicly came out as a homosexual. Dale sued the scouts and the case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court where, in 2000, the court held that the scouts were well within their rights to exclude homosexual members and leaders.
But even though the Boy Scouts won these decisions, the die had been cast. Several groups and businesses, most notably dozens of United Way chapters, began to withhold funding for the group because of its “discriminatory” practices. The Boy Scouts held fast to their principles for many years but, slowly, they began giving in to the social justice warriors.
It happened incrementally as most subversive things do. In 2013, the scouts lifted their ban on gay boys joining the organization, but kept the ban on gays in leadership intact. But by July of 2015, that ban was also lifted, with the organization’s leadership citing the possibility of serious legal challenges to the policy. In October of 2017, girls were invited to join the organization. And now, the name change.
Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said that the Boy Scouts considered many names before deciding on Scouts BSA. “We wanted to land on something that evokes the past but also conveys the inclusive going forward,” Surbaugh said. “We’re trying to find the right way to say we’re here for both young men and young women.”
The name change is just another small step in the gender-neutral agenda that is being foisted upon all of us by the politically correct Left. The Boy Scouts is a victim. Children being raised in gender-neutral families are victims. Even the integrity of biology itself risks becoming a victim as so-called scientists look for ways to validate these insane concepts of “gender.”
The Boy Scout Oath says, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” With all that talk about God and morality, you can expect the oath to be changed soon, too.
