Another positive step in the right direction for an organization rife with brokenness. There’s a lot I don’t like about the organization, but this is something a love–a scouting organization open to young women and the lgbtq community. The next step is being inclusive of nonreligious agnostic and atheist youth and leaders. As well as ending the cultural appropriation of Native American peoples.
May this organization continue to build up youth, never allow further violence against youth, and make amends for all the wrongs. There’s a lot of good that comes out of organizations like this and I won’t discount it even though it’s riddled with a dark history.
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You’re saying you believe the organization was founded on the principle of seeking out youth for the purpose of abuse?
and learning from the Catholic church how to protect and hide abusers
There’s no denying what has happened and what continues to happen in this organization and other organizations for youth (including religious groups). The wickedness of humans cannot be escaped.
My hope is that such organizations may continue to exist for all the good they do and that efforts to prevent and address the deep sickness will prevail.
This honestly will make it a lot less awkward to talk about some of my memories as a teenager without feeling like I’m misgendering myself.
I’m so ambivalent about this change. I had fun in the BSA but it’s also where I experienced the worst bullying as a gay neuro-atypical kid. This was in a Mormon associated troop long before the schizm over how exactly to enable child abuse.
Sorry to hear that. Truly. Growing up, bullies made life hell.
I think one of the most important things I’ve been able to gift my kids is the ability to accept others as they are and not treat them like shit (which is ever so easy by default it seems).
The most interesting thing about my eldest child’s troop is that nearly every youth is neurodivergent. I mean, in terms of autism for instance, members are on the opposite sides of the spectrum. It makes for challenging interactions at times, but I’m so proud to see how they work hard to be inclusive and navigate said challenges.
They affectionately call themselves the “Weirdo Troop” and take a strange, wonderful pride in being so different especially in contrast to other more homogeneous troops.
Recently a youth was visiting the troop to see if they might join. Their pronouns are they/them and the kids all got along really well. I was curious how this was going to go if they were interested in joining because of their mom occasionally misgendering them as she/her. The scouts use the gender recorded on the application rather than a birth certificate to determine how to place a child. They/them pushes things to a new realm.
Even though both boys and girls are allowed in the scouts, there are rules in place to keep them separated during events like camping. A trans boy is clear. (Well, for those accepting because there remain troops with bigotted leaders.) But… how do you handle tent divisions and male/female leadership quotas when a person doesn’t identify as binary? Unfortunately, they didn’t decide to stay and were just testing the water. I kind of wish they did though because I got along well with their mom and it’s nice to click with parents when possible.
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It’s a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
The organization steeped in tradition has made seismic changes after decades of turmoil, from finally allowing gay youth to welcoming girls throughout its ranks.
With an eye on increasing flagging membership numbers, the Irving, Texas-based organization announced the name change Tuesday at its annual meeting in Florida.
“In the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs,” Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and chief executive officer, said in an interview before the announcement.
“Girls were like: ‘You can join Boy Scouts of America?’” said Chipman, now a 20-year-old college student and assistant scoutmaster of her troop.
A father of two girls and a proud Eagle Scout himself, the New Jersey attorney eagerly formed an all-girls troop.
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