Any organization that does business with the Pentagon is subject to certain restrictions. Previously these were fairly commonsense, like, don't use a contractor that is a subsidiary of a hostile foreign power, things like that; but the current regime has made it so that anyone who does anything with the Pentagon has to conform ideologically.
The brave thing to do would be for Scouting America to sever ties with the military, but at this point those ties go pretty deep. Scouting should return to its roots as an army for peace - a way to give young people the camaraderie and skill-building of the military without training them to be violent killers.
I loved my time in the scouts, but the part I loved the least was the Bush-era closeness with the national security state. Even at the time as a kid, I felt uneasy when our troop visited Fort Dix for a weekend of camping. I am very grateful for the leader in the troop who, after the fact, emphasized to us that we were not training to be soldiers, that our organization was meant to be different. Yet the Pentagon undeniably treats Scouting like a recruiting pipeline, and plenty of people within Scouting are more than happy to oblige.
I was a Boy Scout for a few years. I think it lasted about 3 years. It had a structure like the military, with a number of kids assigned to each group in Cub Scouts, which are called Dens. I don't remember the name for the equivalent in Boy Scouts. Other than that, for my group or troop, it was about learning survival skills in the woods, such as fire building, different knot-tying techniques, arts and crafts, swimming, and camping. I did go to a rifle range, too. I started to hate it because the adults ran the show. I was young. It has many benefits for all kids. This guy is a putz. Someone better sue this MF personally, as well as DoD and the scouts.
It's unfortunate that the adults started running the show. The whole thing with the "patrol system" (the groups in Boy Scouts are called patrols) is that they mix older kids with younger kids and the older kids, who got the training from even older kids when they were themselves younger, now teach the younger kids. It's a really clever organizational scheme and is probably a huge reason that so many people come out of Scouts with good leadership skills. Ironically, I think Hegseth might be in a better place emotionally and as a person if he'd gone through Scouts, but as with Trump, I doubt if he's ever been in any setting where he's been challenged or had any accountability whatsoever.
Feel free to skip this paragraph if you have other things to do:
But they have a lot of albatrosses for me, as someone who earned Eagle Scout growing up and saw my daughter go through all the Cub Scout levels (quarantine created a forced reset where she decided she wanted to spend her time other ways). They've covered up a LOT of scandals involving adult leaders preying on children over the years, and for most of those years they weren't allowing out, gay adults to serve as leaders, which is astonishing since the vast, vast majority of abuse cases i've ever heard of, in or out of Scouting, involved avowedly straight (and it goes without saying, cis) men. I almost mailed in my Eagle Scout pin in the 2000s over that one; if I'd known where it was and not been in kind of a tough emotional place during grad school years at the time, I probably would have gone through with it. The transgender exclusion was always absurd to me, because how can you punish children for being who they are? And again, it was a case of the Scouts punishing people for being outwardly who they were* when the threats they were dealing with always came from adults who were hiding bad behavior. When my daughter was involved, I always had mixed feelings about being back with the organization, not least because it still is an organization with a mealy-mouthed take on religion, because whatever Hegseth says, the only groups who are explicitly denied participation as far as I know are atheists and agnostics who aren't willing to explicitly acknowledge the presence of a "superior being."
*although, no person, particularly no trans person, owes anyone else any information as to who they are, up to and including the fact that they are transgender
"but I didn't know much about their ties to the military. This is disgusting." <-- Only if you think the military is disgusting, or, only if you are talking about this announcement.
Because of how much material support the DoD gives Scouting. They are relatively dependent on it.
For example, the Corps of Engineers practices by maintaining a lot of Council's Summer Camp infrastructure, like maintaining dams, ponds, lakes for free. Also permitting camping on DoD land.
Yes, and why do they do it? Civic duty? Contribution to the public good?
Nah. It's because Scouting America acts - whether consciously or by default - as recruitment for the military. The group will even brag about how many of its participants wind up in the military.
This is so heartbreaking. My scout troop was relatively progressive and tolerated queerness among the boys* back when official policies were more conservative. My time in the scouts was very valuable to becoming the person I am today. I hope and pray that council and local troop leadership has the wherewithal to spare their scouts of this humiliation.
As an eagle scout I was super pumped when they started being more inclusive years ago. This is terrifying watching how easily they rolled over and complied.
Same. Eagle Scout here, who was actually somewhat traumatized by the organization. I was proud when they modified their practices to align more with their alleged/implied (Christian) ideals. It went a long way toward helping me forgive them for my experiences.
I only made it to Life, was three merit badges from Eagle when our Troop lost our Scoutmaster and no one in the comunnity was willing to step up for us (scandal in the Church that our spnsor - imagine that). The nearest troop was in the next town, over an hour away, and in the 1970s Mojave Desert, parents were not often willing to do that.
Here’s where Scouting becomes the New Hitler Youth! They are the next generation of Micro-Penis Gestapo This Fascist Government is GROOMING! The people in Nazi Germany did the same thing with their Boy Scouts! Turned into Nazi Fanatics by indoctrinating children into monsters! This cannot and must not happen again!! The government of this country is Our Enemy! No one should pay their taxes unless they step down immediately! DOWN WITH THE TYRANNY OF TRUMPISM! FDT!FJDV!AND FUCK THIS FASCIST GOVERNMENT! 👿🔥🖕🏽
As a trans guy- and just as a human- and i'm not speaking for all trans guys for sure, but I just want to gently say, with all the respect and friendliness in the world, because i know tone is hard to convey- using "micro-penis" as an insult, is, maybe, not, like, soooo great here? or anywhere really, but especially here?
I hear you, guys. Valid concern and tone is important in these discussions. I have more than a few transmasc friends, who do not hesitate to call me out when slip up as well.
(and being a good girl, I smile and tell them "Thank you, sir, may I have another, sir?" Yes, I am exactly that kind of old lady.)
Scouting did start with a para‑military streak under Baden‑Powell, which is exactly why so many early groups in the U.S. and Britain peeled off into Woodcraft Chivalry, the Kibbo Kift, and other movements that wanted nothing to do with that structure. And yes, the National Socialists borrowed from that model — but they were also drawing on long‑standing American traditions of segregation and exclusion that predated them by decades. The history is tangled, not a straight line from “Scouts” to “Hitler Youth.”
And about the “no one should pay their taxes” part: taxes aren’t a voluntary opt‑in. They’re withheld from wages, collected at the point of sale, and baked into utilities and services. Unless someone is living entirely off‑grid and bartering for everything, there’s no world in which an ordinary person can simply stop paying taxes. It’s not resistance; it’s just not how the system works.
So if you’re genuinely convinced we’re on the edge of authoritarian collapse (and you’re far from alone in that), the real question becomes what you’re actually doing with that conviction. Anger is easy. Action isn’t. As Joan Baez put it, “Action is the antidote to despair.” Sing it, Joan.
What an absolutely atrocious and disgraceful action on the part of the administration (not surprising) and Scouting America (shameful and pathetic). This timeline sucks!🤬
These are merely children seeking to learn skills, build self confidence and grow as humans. Not to mention be with their friends. Cruelty for cruelty’s sake.
It is profoundly disappointing to see organizations like Scouting America capitulate to political pressure by aligning themselves with the anti-transgender demands emerging from Donald Trump’s orbit and his ideological allies.
Institutions that once claimed to stand for character, integrity, and courage are now bending the knee to fear-based politics.
Let us be absolutely clear: forcing transgender youth to “go by their birth sex” does not change who they are.
It does not erase their identity. It does not make them disappear. What it does is compound stigma, increase isolation, and heighten the very real risks of anxiety, depression, and self-harm that medical and psychological professionals have warned about for years.
The notion that identity can be legislated out of existence is not only scientifically illiterate—it is morally bankrupt.
Every major medical body recognizes that affirming transgender youth, not erasing them, leads to better mental health outcomes.
Policies that demand denial instead of dignity are not neutral compromises; they are active harm.
If organizations like Scouting America believe that sacrificing a small and vulnerable minority will protect them politically, they are gravely mistaken.
History is not kind to institutions that abandon children in order to appease power.
Character is not proven by compliance—it is proven by standing firm when it matters most.
Transgender youth will not vanish because a policy says they should pretend to be someone they are not.
They will only suffer more. And the responsibility for that suffering will rest squarely with those who chose cowardice over compassion.
WHEN WILL WE LEAN THAT WE MUST STAND UP TO THIS BULLIE AND HIS STRONG ARM TACTICS -GIVING IN IS WRONG
I cannot speak to Scouts of America, but the Girl Scouts have been a welcoming and inclusive organization for years. I was a leader decades ago and we were open to all - we did have some boys join, for insurance purposes usually, to attend events with a mom leader who brought boys along, but they were included, not sidelined. Men have always been able to be leaders, but not the primary, or "01" leader. The mission is building strong girls and female leadership is important. I do hope this has continued and I encourage you to check out Girl Scouting as an alternative. Yes, it's called girl scouting, and boys, whether cis or trans, will potentially have issues with the name, but the program is designed to be inclusive.
I'm not saying this shouldn't be reported. But the note that the policy hasn't been confirmed yet shouldn't be at the very bottom of the article. Even The Advocate put it in their third paragraph, right at the top of the article. The Lead and the Context should be up front, but don't bury context because that makes everyone panic before it's actually real.
It'd be like saying "Dave said your loved ones were hurt in an accident tonight. We're still waiting for confirmation there was an accident.", but nobody trusts anything Dave says, and there's 300 words inbetween those two sentences.
Obviously all trans scouts need to transfer to the Girl Scouts in spite of the name. They are still inclusive, and perhaps they should change their name to Scouts USA or something similar.
Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts branches often participate in very different sorts of activities. The choice to switch over isn't just one of name and organizational culture. Many kids go to Scouting America because of their interest in outdoors activities which Girl Scouts doesn't prioritize.
Aren't the Scouts a private organization? Why does Kegsbreath get to determine its policies?
Any organization that does business with the Pentagon is subject to certain restrictions. Previously these were fairly commonsense, like, don't use a contractor that is a subsidiary of a hostile foreign power, things like that; but the current regime has made it so that anyone who does anything with the Pentagon has to conform ideologically.
The brave thing to do would be for Scouting America to sever ties with the military, but at this point those ties go pretty deep. Scouting should return to its roots as an army for peace - a way to give young people the camaraderie and skill-building of the military without training them to be violent killers.
I've never been a Scout, and my kiddo dabbled in Cub Scouts a bit, but I didn't know much about their ties to the military. This is disgusting.
I loved my time in the scouts, but the part I loved the least was the Bush-era closeness with the national security state. Even at the time as a kid, I felt uneasy when our troop visited Fort Dix for a weekend of camping. I am very grateful for the leader in the troop who, after the fact, emphasized to us that we were not training to be soldiers, that our organization was meant to be different. Yet the Pentagon undeniably treats Scouting like a recruiting pipeline, and plenty of people within Scouting are more than happy to oblige.
I was a Boy Scout for a few years. I think it lasted about 3 years. It had a structure like the military, with a number of kids assigned to each group in Cub Scouts, which are called Dens. I don't remember the name for the equivalent in Boy Scouts. Other than that, for my group or troop, it was about learning survival skills in the woods, such as fire building, different knot-tying techniques, arts and crafts, swimming, and camping. I did go to a rifle range, too. I started to hate it because the adults ran the show. I was young. It has many benefits for all kids. This guy is a putz. Someone better sue this MF personally, as well as DoD and the scouts.
It's unfortunate that the adults started running the show. The whole thing with the "patrol system" (the groups in Boy Scouts are called patrols) is that they mix older kids with younger kids and the older kids, who got the training from even older kids when they were themselves younger, now teach the younger kids. It's a really clever organizational scheme and is probably a huge reason that so many people come out of Scouts with good leadership skills. Ironically, I think Hegseth might be in a better place emotionally and as a person if he'd gone through Scouts, but as with Trump, I doubt if he's ever been in any setting where he's been challenged or had any accountability whatsoever.
Feel free to skip this paragraph if you have other things to do:
But they have a lot of albatrosses for me, as someone who earned Eagle Scout growing up and saw my daughter go through all the Cub Scout levels (quarantine created a forced reset where she decided she wanted to spend her time other ways). They've covered up a LOT of scandals involving adult leaders preying on children over the years, and for most of those years they weren't allowing out, gay adults to serve as leaders, which is astonishing since the vast, vast majority of abuse cases i've ever heard of, in or out of Scouting, involved avowedly straight (and it goes without saying, cis) men. I almost mailed in my Eagle Scout pin in the 2000s over that one; if I'd known where it was and not been in kind of a tough emotional place during grad school years at the time, I probably would have gone through with it. The transgender exclusion was always absurd to me, because how can you punish children for being who they are? And again, it was a case of the Scouts punishing people for being outwardly who they were* when the threats they were dealing with always came from adults who were hiding bad behavior. When my daughter was involved, I always had mixed feelings about being back with the organization, not least because it still is an organization with a mealy-mouthed take on religion, because whatever Hegseth says, the only groups who are explicitly denied participation as far as I know are atheists and agnostics who aren't willing to explicitly acknowledge the presence of a "superior being."
*although, no person, particularly no trans person, owes anyone else any information as to who they are, up to and including the fact that they are transgender
"but I didn't know much about their ties to the military. This is disgusting." <-- Only if you think the military is disgusting, or, only if you are talking about this announcement.
I was referring to the announcement.
Gotcha!
So scouting values sucking up the the military more than the values they should be an example of? Then it's time for them to go away.
yeah, not sure who he is to be "announcing" anything
Time to start a new scout program for everyone no matter the color of their skin, gender identity or who they love!!!
A program completely separate from this vile government who understands nothing of humanity.
Look into Spiral Scouts.
https://www.spiralscouts.org/
Because of how much material support the DoD gives Scouting. They are relatively dependent on it.
For example, the Corps of Engineers practices by maintaining a lot of Council's Summer Camp infrastructure, like maintaining dams, ponds, lakes for free. Also permitting camping on DoD land.
I didn't know that. Wow. This is a shame, like all things with this current administration.
Most Councils only have three to five full time professionals, and are run on a shoestring.
Yes, and why do they do it? Civic duty? Contribution to the public good?
Nah. It's because Scouting America acts - whether consciously or by default - as recruitment for the military. The group will even brag about how many of its participants wind up in the military.
This is so heartbreaking. My scout troop was relatively progressive and tolerated queerness among the boys* back when official policies were more conservative. My time in the scouts was very valuable to becoming the person I am today. I hope and pray that council and local troop leadership has the wherewithal to spare their scouts of this humiliation.
As an eagle scout I was super pumped when they started being more inclusive years ago. This is terrifying watching how easily they rolled over and complied.
They have learned lessons from na*i germany but, unfortunatly, it was the wrong lesson. Capitulation to the regime wasn't the right lesson to learn.
Same. Eagle Scout here, who was actually somewhat traumatized by the organization. I was proud when they modified their practices to align more with their alleged/implied (Christian) ideals. It went a long way toward helping me forgive them for my experiences.
I only made it to Life, was three merit badges from Eagle when our Troop lost our Scoutmaster and no one in the comunnity was willing to step up for us (scandal in the Church that our spnsor - imagine that). The nearest troop was in the next town, over an hour away, and in the 1970s Mojave Desert, parents were not often willing to do that.
Doesn’t this miscreant have anything better to do?
Miscreant, a great word to define Kegsbreath!
Misdemeanant, felon . . .
Drunk.
I'm surprised he was sober long enough to make the statement.
Oppression compresses life, but it has never eliminated gender variance.
transgender existence is stronger than the force trying to suppress it.
"They tried to bury us, they didn't know we were seeds"?
-Dinos Christianopoulos-
Here’s where Scouting becomes the New Hitler Youth! They are the next generation of Micro-Penis Gestapo This Fascist Government is GROOMING! The people in Nazi Germany did the same thing with their Boy Scouts! Turned into Nazi Fanatics by indoctrinating children into monsters! This cannot and must not happen again!! The government of this country is Our Enemy! No one should pay their taxes unless they step down immediately! DOWN WITH THE TYRANNY OF TRUMPISM! FDT!FJDV!AND FUCK THIS FASCIST GOVERNMENT! 👿🔥🖕🏽
As a trans guy- and just as a human- and i'm not speaking for all trans guys for sure, but I just want to gently say, with all the respect and friendliness in the world, because i know tone is hard to convey- using "micro-penis" as an insult, is, maybe, not, like, soooo great here? or anywhere really, but especially here?
Yes, my micro-penis tried to do a flip flop. But I certainly agree with the sentiment that the writer demonstrates.
I hear you, guys. Valid concern and tone is important in these discussions. I have more than a few transmasc friends, who do not hesitate to call me out when slip up as well.
(and being a good girl, I smile and tell them "Thank you, sir, may I have another, sir?" Yes, I am exactly that kind of old lady.)
Scouting did start with a para‑military streak under Baden‑Powell, which is exactly why so many early groups in the U.S. and Britain peeled off into Woodcraft Chivalry, the Kibbo Kift, and other movements that wanted nothing to do with that structure. And yes, the National Socialists borrowed from that model — but they were also drawing on long‑standing American traditions of segregation and exclusion that predated them by decades. The history is tangled, not a straight line from “Scouts” to “Hitler Youth.”
And about the “no one should pay their taxes” part: taxes aren’t a voluntary opt‑in. They’re withheld from wages, collected at the point of sale, and baked into utilities and services. Unless someone is living entirely off‑grid and bartering for everything, there’s no world in which an ordinary person can simply stop paying taxes. It’s not resistance; it’s just not how the system works.
So if you’re genuinely convinced we’re on the edge of authoritarian collapse (and you’re far from alone in that), the real question becomes what you’re actually doing with that conviction. Anger is easy. Action isn’t. As Joan Baez put it, “Action is the antidote to despair.” Sing it, Joan.
What an absolutely atrocious and disgraceful action on the part of the administration (not surprising) and Scouting America (shameful and pathetic). This timeline sucks!🤬
These are merely children seeking to learn skills, build self confidence and grow as humans. Not to mention be with their friends. Cruelty for cruelty’s sake.
It is profoundly disappointing to see organizations like Scouting America capitulate to political pressure by aligning themselves with the anti-transgender demands emerging from Donald Trump’s orbit and his ideological allies.
Institutions that once claimed to stand for character, integrity, and courage are now bending the knee to fear-based politics.
Let us be absolutely clear: forcing transgender youth to “go by their birth sex” does not change who they are.
It does not erase their identity. It does not make them disappear. What it does is compound stigma, increase isolation, and heighten the very real risks of anxiety, depression, and self-harm that medical and psychological professionals have warned about for years.
The notion that identity can be legislated out of existence is not only scientifically illiterate—it is morally bankrupt.
Every major medical body recognizes that affirming transgender youth, not erasing them, leads to better mental health outcomes.
Policies that demand denial instead of dignity are not neutral compromises; they are active harm.
If organizations like Scouting America believe that sacrificing a small and vulnerable minority will protect them politically, they are gravely mistaken.
History is not kind to institutions that abandon children in order to appease power.
Character is not proven by compliance—it is proven by standing firm when it matters most.
Transgender youth will not vanish because a policy says they should pretend to be someone they are not.
They will only suffer more. And the responsibility for that suffering will rest squarely with those who chose cowardice over compassion.
WHEN WILL WE LEAN THAT WE MUST STAND UP TO THIS BULLIE AND HIS STRONG ARM TACTICS -GIVING IN IS WRONG
Outstanding reply!
🤬🤬🤬 fuck him!
Came her to say this😡
He wants to de-emphasize TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPFUL, FRIENDLY, and CHEERFUL and put the emphasis on his notion of REVERENT with a side of OBEDIENT.
I don’t think revenant is the correct word here. Maybe switch out with COMPLICIT.
I cannot speak to Scouts of America, but the Girl Scouts have been a welcoming and inclusive organization for years. I was a leader decades ago and we were open to all - we did have some boys join, for insurance purposes usually, to attend events with a mom leader who brought boys along, but they were included, not sidelined. Men have always been able to be leaders, but not the primary, or "01" leader. The mission is building strong girls and female leadership is important. I do hope this has continued and I encourage you to check out Girl Scouting as an alternative. Yes, it's called girl scouting, and boys, whether cis or trans, will potentially have issues with the name, but the program is designed to be inclusive.
Even as a boy in boy scouts I got sexually assaulted. Forcing trans girls to share intimate spaces with boys is just going to be a rape factory
It's hard to find the words to express how I'm feeling, so I'll just say thank you to Erin for her incredible reporting and voice.
Another pathetic act of cruelty by pathetic fragile men.
So we don't even know if this is actually happening? Just Kegsbreath shooting his mouth off so far?
Shouldn't we wait for news to become real before we act like it is?
The time to raise the alarm is 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 people start getting hurt.
I'm not saying this shouldn't be reported. But the note that the policy hasn't been confirmed yet shouldn't be at the very bottom of the article. Even The Advocate put it in their third paragraph, right at the top of the article. The Lead and the Context should be up front, but don't bury context because that makes everyone panic before it's actually real.
It'd be like saying "Dave said your loved ones were hurt in an accident tonight. We're still waiting for confirmation there was an accident.", but nobody trusts anything Dave says, and there's 300 words inbetween those two sentences.
Obviously all trans scouts need to transfer to the Girl Scouts in spite of the name. They are still inclusive, and perhaps they should change their name to Scouts USA or something similar.
Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts branches often participate in very different sorts of activities. The choice to switch over isn't just one of name and organizational culture. Many kids go to Scouting America because of their interest in outdoors activities which Girl Scouts doesn't prioritize.