Hegseth strikes new deal with Scouts: Girls allowed for now, DEI is banned

[IronLionZion]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/27/hegseth-scouting-america/

Archive: https://archive.ph/ZNmLY



Scouting America, the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts, will make several concessions to the Pentagon — including getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and limiting participation to those who join in their biological gender — to retain its longtime relationship with the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.

In exchange, the group for now will be able to keep its name and girls will still be able to join. However, Hegseth said that Scouting America will remain under a Defense Department review.

“Ideally, I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts, as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday,” Hegseth said in a social media post announcing the agreement.

Hegseth had used the threat of pulling all military support from the group — including kicking Scout troops off military bases — to force it to make changes that better align with his personal views and those of the Trump administration.

Hegseth’s demands for change were made months before Scouting America was to celebrate Jamboree, a 10-day summit scheduled for July that is expected to draw more than 15,000 Scouts from throughout the country to West Virginia. It’s held every four years, and Scout troops hold popcorn sales and other fundraisers to be able to attend.

In the past, upward of 500 National Guard personnel, military reservists and active-duty service members have provided equipment and logistical support for Jamboree. The loss of that support could have put the event in jeopardy.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

1. Scouts..spend this year figuring out other support mechanisms

[Buns_of_Fire]

3. Follow the motto: "Be Prepared". Once threatened,

it'll be there over their heads from now on.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

8. Exactly. Hegseth is going to circle back to eliminate the girls

[leftstreet]

2. The Dept of War is in charge of Scouts?

wut?

[IronLionZion]

7. The Dept of War has influence in all sorts of things that may surprise people

like school lunches, strategic stockpiles of stuff, sponsorships of various organizations, influence over software and technology requirements, and more. The article describes their long relationship with the Scouts.

[walkingman]

4. I was a Scout and had no idea that the DOD had anything to do with it. Although when I think

about it the "Scout's Oath" was similar to a military kind of thing. I always thought that it was kind of linked to the Church because that is where we met? Learn something every day.

I cannot imagine Hegseth ever being a Boy Scout - he seems like the opposite of one to me. More like a NAZI Brown Shirt.

[Johonny]

5. MAGA can only solve imaginary problems 101

[bigtree]

6. DEI is all of us

...distorted and demeaned for political purposes.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion was what I was told all of my life was what this country was about, after advancing out of the shame of slavery and segregation.

This fucker and his nazi morons in the White House think they can just unilaterally erase the nation's entire history in one administration's sleight of hand.

People should recognize that he's used the inclusion that the civil rights era promised for the people the government had oppressed, in MY LIFETIME, as a cudgel in almost EACH and EVERY 'emergency' executive order rolling back rights and benefits for ALL Americans, not just the brown skinned people he's attempting to ethnically and racially cleanse from society.

[Initech]

9. Can't we just ban Hegseth from the Pentagon?

Nothing of value would be lost. Fuck him.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. As a former scout leader and father of an eagle scout, I am appalled at these alleged concessions

I was one of the founders of my temple's scouting troop and my oldest was the first Eagle Scout for our troop. While I was also on the board of my Temple, an issue came up about the "official" BSA policy on gays in Scouting. This policy was intended to help keep the troops formed by LDS temples happy. I had to deal with board of the Temple and we had assurances from the leadership of our regional governing body that BSA had a "don't ask, don't tell" type policy with respect to sexual orientation of scouts. To make the board happy, I actually had to go meet with the leadership of our Council (the regional governing body). Among other things, I pointed out to the leadership of our council that my Temple and the other Temple with a scout troop had a good number of members on the board of United Way and other groups who help support scouting.

I am hoping that Hegseth is overstating the agreement with Scouting. I saw this in the Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/27/hegseth-scouting-america

Hegseth’s announcement was less clear about the agreement’s impact on transgender children who wish to join the Scouts or remain in their Scouting troops. In his video statement, Hegseth said that Scouting America will “modify its policy to make clear that membership will be based solely on biological sex at birth and not gender identity,” and he assailed the organization for having “welcomed the destructive myth of gender fluidity and transgenderism to infiltrate their membership.”

“Any application will have only two sex designations, male and female, and the application must match the applicant’s birth certificate,” he said. “Scouting will also make clear that biological boys and girls will not be allowed to occupy or share intimate spaces together — toilets, showers, tents, anywhere like that.”

In a statement to The Washington Post, Scouting America said that children have always joined according to their biological gender and that no modification was necessary on that issue.

“Scouting has accepted transgender youth since 2017 and will continue to work with families to ensure transgender youth feel welcome in Scouting,” it said. “Scouting has extensive safeguarding policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety and comfort of youth members in all situations.”

I am really not happy with Hegseth's attacks on Scouting. I hope that "don't ask, don't tell" is still the policy of scouting