The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history. The Texas-based organization is announcing at its annual meeting in Florida on Tuesday that it will become Scouting America.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/20749204

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.

  • Buelldozer@lemmy.todayEnglish
    16·
    6 months ago

    Why “Scouting America” and not “Scouts of America” without the gender prefix?

    I’d guess it’s because “Girl Scouts” still exists so if the BSA renamed to “Scouts of America” it would look like they were in charge of everything. That would surely confuse the hell out of people, piss off the Girl Scouts and up creating a serious fuss.

    • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.eeEnglish
      191·
      6 months ago

      Imagine if they merged

      We’d be getting the cookies and the popcorn buckets from the same smarmy little shit who set their table up in front of a dispensary like we don’t know they know exactly what they’re doing.

    • ⓝⓞ🅞🅝🅔@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      7·
      6 months ago

      I’d say this explanation is as good. The posted article mentions girl scouts at one time suing the boy scouts.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      6 months ago

      If it was supposed to be gender neutral then why have separate girl scouts anymore

      • jpeps@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        6 months ago

        They’re separate organisations. From what I remember, Boy Scouts/Scouting America has been under fire for some time for their lack of inclusion, which they’ve been changing. Meanwhile Girl Scouts is and has always been vocally against anyone but girls joining the org. Could be different now though.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          6 months ago

          They’re separate organisations.

          No I know, I was more thinking of why have two of them anymore, they could just merge. I know in Finland we used to have separate boy scouts and girl scouts organizations but ages ago they merged into one top level scouting organization.

          Meanwhile Girl Scouts is and has always been vocally against anyone but girls joining the org.

          Uh oh. I guess there’s some work to be done there.

          • jpeps@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            6 months ago

            Sorry for my misunderstanding. The second part as you point out is the main reason I think they won’t though. I don’t like the Girl Scout’s stance but I can empathise with it, as I believe it comes from the effort they had to go to to get girls access to a scouts organisation in the first place. To allow boys in now feels like a loss to them after so many years of being denied access to Boy Scouts. Mixed into that is all the politics around single-sex spaces etc etc

            • Kusimulkku@lemm.eeEnglish
              3·
              6 months ago

              But if the objective was gender inclusion then excluding boys now would just feel like they’re doing it out of spite. Unless they specifically want gender exclusion, just into another direction, which would be oof.

              Should just have one organization where everyone is welcome imo

              • jpeps@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                6 months ago

                I completely agree, and yeah it does kind of seem like there is some spite in it. Very political, sadly.