Overview
Scouting America and the Pentagon announced an accord this week designed to maintain the organizations' historically close ties while revising the youth group's programmatic and membership policies. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth framed the agreement as a corrective step to remove what he called "radical woke ideology" and to restore membership standards aligned with biological sex at birth. Scouting America, however, issued statements insisting the pact does not amount to a ban on transgender youth and that the organization will continue to serve all young people.
What each side said
In public remarks, Hegseth said continued support from the U.S. armed forces - including use of military installations for national jamborees and other Scout events - will depend on Scouting America's compliance with the agreement. A central element he highlighted is adherence to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14173, issued in January 2025, which seeks to eliminate race- and sex-based policy and program preferences that had been promoted under the banner of "diversity, equity and inclusion," often abbreviated as DEI. "No more DEI," Hegseth said, adding the word "zero" to emphasize the change.
Hegseth further characterized recent changes at Scouting America as a departure from the group's "foundational" mission to "develop boys into men," and accused the organization of embracing what he described as "an insidious radical woke ideology that is anti-America and anti-American." He also criticized the group's acceptance of gender fluidity and transgender membership, saying, "They even welcomed the destructive myth of gender fluidity and transgenderism to infiltrate their membership."
As part of the agreement, Hegseth said Scouting America would "modify its policy to make clear that membership will be based solely on biological sex at birth and not gender identity." He described an application format limited to two sex designations - male and female - and specified that applicants' selections must match their birth certificates. Hegseth added that "biological boys and girls will not be allowed to occupy intimate spaces together, such as toilets, showers and camping tents."
Scouting America responded with its own statements emphasizing continuity of mission. In a press release explaining the deal, the organization said, "Our mission and commitment to serving all youth remains unchanged." Roger Krone, Scouting America's president and chief executive officer, echoed that position in a separate statement: "We have transgender people in our program, and we'll have transgender people in our program going forward."
Krone also noted operational practices the group already uses, saying applicants are presented with a binary choice of boy or girl on registration forms and are asked about birth sex. "We do not put boys and girls together in intimate spaces and in order to do that we need to have some knowledge of who they are," he explained.
Programmatic changes and practical measures
Both sides described additional adjustments tied to the agreement. Scouting America will discontinue a merit badge titled "Citizenship in Society," which Hegseth labeled as promoting DEI, and will introduce a new merit badge focused on "Military Service." The parties also said registration fees will be waived for children from active-duty, National Guard and Reserve families.
Scouting America stated it had implemented various unspecified "programmatic updates to comply with Executive Order 14173." The organization did not provide further detail in its public statements about the full scope of those updates.
Context provided by the organization
Scouting America traces its roots to 1910 and, according to its public materials, has served an estimated 130 million young people since that time. In recent years the organization enacted several gender- and orientation-related changes: it ended a ban on openly gay adult leaders and employees in 2015; it welcomed its first transgender member in 2017; it opened membership to girls in 2018; and the group ceased using the name "Boy Scouts" the following year. The Girl Scouts of the USA remains a separate organization.
What remains unclear
The publicly released information leaves some operational details unspecified. Scouting America said it made programmatic updates to align with Executive Order 14173 but did not enumerate all such changes. The practical administration of any birth-certificate-based application checks, the handling of existing transgender members, and the specific enforcement mechanisms tied to continued military support were not fully detailed in the statements released by the parties.
As both sides implement the terms, observers will be watching how the policy modifications are operationalized at the local level and how event access tied to military facilities is managed going forward.