Boy Scouts Threatened By Pentagon Over "Gender-Fluid Ideological Stances"

“Scouting America and the Department of War are near a final agreement.”

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The Boy Scouts of America—which is now known as Scouting America—has found itself in the line of fire of the Department of Defense (doing business as the “Department of War”).

After the Pentagon threatened to end its longstanding partnership with the organization, Scouting America is reported to be “near a final agreement” to appease the Trump regime’s sudden interest in one of the country’s largest youth organizations.

“On January 21st, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173: ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,’ terminating radical DEI preferencing in federal contracting. All of our affiliations must meet this standard,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell tweeted Monday.

“But, for more than a decade now, Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEI and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.”

Even before its 2025 name change, Scouting America had a rich history of providing programming and opportunities for all genders. Women and girls have held auxiliary and leadership roles in the Boy Scouts since its earliest days. Girls have been permitted to join some programs of the Scouts, namely the Venturing and Sea Scouts, since the 1970s—meaning Boy Scouts have been some level of sex-integrated for almost half of the organization’s 116-year history without issue.

In the late 2010s, other flagship programs, including the Cub Scouts, were also opened up to girls. President Donald Trump has seemingly embraced this in the past, evidently welcoming both girls and boys from Scouting America to the Oval Office.

Photo courtesy of the White House // Flickr

Now, however, Parnell said the Department would reconsider its ties with Scouting America, including its funding of the venerated National Jamboree. That is, unless they capitulate to a yet-unnamed remedy to the scourge of “gender” and “DEI.”

“Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles,” Parnell said. “Back to God and country—immediately!”

Scouting America said in a statement to the Washington Post it was “encouraged by tonight’s social media post by the Pentagon” and that they will be “providing more details” soon.

“Scouting America and the Department of War are near a final agreement where we believe we can continue our partnership with Scouting America, as long as the organization rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms,” Parnell tweeted. “They are on the clock, and we are watching.”

Of course, “common sense” when uttered by a Trump official tends to be a rhetorical cudgel meaning “ideologically-charged, authoritarian repression.”

Despite its inclusion of women, however, the Boy Scouts have had a rocky history with LGBTQ inclusion. Gay and lesbian scouts and scouting leaders were once explicitly banned, and many were expelled from the group on anti-LGBTQ grounds. This changed, bit by bit, following years of advocacy—even after a Supreme Court case in 2000 ruled the Boy Scouts were constitutionally protected by the First Amendment to discriminate against gay people.

Parnell’s Twitter threats of course correspond with other military and Pentagon efforts to purge trans Americans from their ranks. But the Department of (Culture) War, when it’s not kidnapping heads of state from sovereign nations, has its work cut out for it.

Meanwhile, you can express any concerns with Scouting America here.