Scouting New Horizons

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America currently holds more than 2.4 million youth participants and 1 million adult volunteers. It is one of the largest youth organizations in the country. BSA’s goal is to instill values including good character development, self-reliance, and responsibility, according to their website’s “About” page.

This is done through outdoor activities and education or career-related programs. Some of the values reaped from participation include trustworthiness, good citizenship, and survival skills. Units are led predominantly by volunteers appointed by a chartering organization. It is divided into three sectors, Cub Scouts for boys aged seven to ten, Boy Scouts for age ten to eighteen, and Venturing for ages fourteen to twenty-one.

 While BSA has always been known for its exclusivity, boys who wanted to join were required to present a birth certificate that matched the gender they identified with. However, the organization announced on Monday that transgender boys will now be able to join as well. This is a huge victory for the LGBTQ community as well as children everywhere. Michael Surbaugh, the organization’s chief executive, has maintained that, “referring to birth certificates as the reference point is no longer sufficient.”

This victory came about amongst a myriad of others made on behalf of the transgender community, as the country has been struggling with how to regulate gender identity in schools, workplaces, and public bathrooms for the past few years. In 2013, the group also terminated its ban on openly gay youths, and then, just last year, its ban on openly gay adult leaders as well. This decision also followed the organization’s termination of an eight year old, transgender New Jersey boy in 2013.

Those in opposition, however, do not see this as a victory. BSA’s Christian alternative organization, Trail Life USA, has iterated with pride that their core values have yet to bend to the progressive change in culture. Fox News commentator, Todd Starnes, wrote, “The Boy Scouts of America sacrificed its last vestige of integrity on the altar of political correctness.” He also pointed out other inevitable issues set to arise, such as showering, dressing, and sleeping arrangements that will have to accommodate the change. Family Research Council president, Tony Perkins responded to Starnes, “This is Exhibit A of the insatiable demands of those pushing this sexual anarchy.”

Whether or not you are a proponent of the organization’s “liberal agenda”, scouting new horizons should always be something to smile about.