Scouting America will discontinue programs and policies aimed at promoting diversity in order to maintain support from the Department of Defense, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said on Friday.
Mr. Hegseth also said that the organization was banning transgender people from openly participating, but Scouting America said the claim that it had changed its policies on transgender members was false.
“Scouting America will continue to welcome all youth into our programs, and we remain committed to creating an environment where all youth feel valued and respected,” the organization said in a statement sent to The New York Times.
Roger Krone, the president and chief executive of Scouting America, said to The Associated Press that “we have transgender people in our program and we’ll have transgender people in our program going forward.”
In his announcement, Mr. Hegseth attacked Scouting America and the changes the organization had made in recent years to become more inclusive and tolerant. In hyperbolic language, he decried the organization as anti-American and railed against what he called “transgenderism,” “Earth-centered pagan religions” and other “insidious radical woke ideology” that he said had crept into its values.
After that announcement, Scouting America released a statement saying that it was “making programmatic updates to comply with Executive Order 14173,” a declaration from President Trump that aimed to eliminate all policies that promoted diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government. Many other details of the agreement remained unclear.
The statement said Scouting America had staved off a demand from the Pentagon to change the organization’s name back to the Boy Scouts of America and to once again exclude the more than 200,000 girls who participate. The organization started accepting girls in 2017, and changed its name to Scouting America in 2024, as it was grappling with bankruptcy and sex abuse accusations.
“Scouting America held firm on the core commitments that define us. We maintained our name as ‘Scouting America,” the statement said, adding that “girls have been an integral part of Scouting since the 1960s and have served as leaders and program developers for decades. That commitment is unwavering. ”
In his video, Mr. Hegseth said that “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.”
As part of the move to abandon diversity efforts, Mr. Hegseth said Scouting America had agreed to do away with the “Citizenship in Society” merit badge, which is earned by scouts who “realize the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethical leadership.” An advisory on Scouting America’s website said that badge was discontinued effective Friday.
Many details of the agreement remain unclear. Mr. Hegseth said the agreement depends on the scouts making progress on agreed-upon changes over time. In return, the military will allow Scouting America activities to continue to be held on U.S. bases and facilities, with the department providing logistical support. The department will also contribute staff, equipment and services to the scouts’ national jamboree, which occurs every four years, with the next one scheduled for July.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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