The Boy Scouts of America are about to remove “Boy” from the organization’s flagship Boy Scouts program, and not everyone is OK with the extraction. And not everyone is OK with who isn’t OK with the extraction.
BSA announced Wednesday it’s cutting that gender-specific part of the group’s moniker in its attempt to become a scouting choice for both boys and girls. As of next February, the Boy Scouts, which includes kids from 10 to 17, will become Scouts BSA.
“As we enter a new era for our organization, it is important that all youth can see themselves in Scouting in every way possible,” Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said in a statement while touting the program’s new marketing campaign to promote inclusiveness, “Scout Me In.”
The parent organization, Boy Scouts of America or BSA, will not see a name change, and neither will the gender-neutral name for the Cub Scouts, a program for kids 7-10 years old.
Last year, BSA announced it would start providing programs for girls and before that revealed it would accept transgender children. In 2015, the organization ended a ban on gay troop leaders.
When the announcement was made, reactions popped up on Twitter and there was a clear divide between those who think the change is unnecessary and individuals who think it’s harmless.
“I am a proud Eagle Scout,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, tweeted. “It is a national disgrace that girls are being allowed into the Boy Scouts.”
“I remember joining the Boy Scouts and at the first meeting they announced that we’d be required to go camping every month. I never went back,” comedian Mike Drucker wrote. “Anyone who wants to live that nightmare life is welcome to it.
See some of the other reactions to the name change below.
There's something deeply sad about a society that presses for the Boy Scouts to stop being the Boy Scouts. And there is something hilarious about the Girl Scouts now complaining that the no-longer Boy Scouts will accept girls. https://t.co/vbtcxGhcBJ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 2, 2018
Let the tragic self-destruction of the Boy Scouts be a lesson to us all. Begin surrendering to the Left, and they will not be satisfied until you are completely obliterated.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 2, 2018
We learn two things from the self-destruction of the Boy Scouts organization:
1) The Left will eat you alive if you compromise with them.
2) Boys are not allowed to have any of their own spaces in this ridiculous culture we've made for ourselves.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 2, 2018
No more Boy Scouts. https://t.co/3bA627OB9Z
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/991677320556634113
I am a proud Eagle Scout
It is a national disgrace that girls are being allowed into the Boy Scouts
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 26, 2018
I worry that allowing other genders into the Boy Scouts will ruin the experience of your dad hitting you because you can't put a tent together
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) May 2, 2018
I remember joining the Boy Scouts and at the first meeting they announced that we'd be required to go camping every month.
I never went back.
Anyone who wants to live that nightmare life is welcome to it.
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) May 2, 2018
While conservatives are outraged over the Boy Scouts changing their name to "Scouts BSA", they are turning a blind eye to the fact that our President is considering selling missiles to Ukraine in exchange for them not releasing potential criminal evidence on Trump aide, Manafort.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 2, 2018
https://twitter.com/igzrap/status/991678997846257664
Go, girls!
I was in the first class of women to graduate from my college.
I thought we had it tough. We were verbally harassed daily by classmates who were afraid of change.
These girls are tougher. They're standing up to cyberbullying from grown men in Boy Scouts uniforms. https://t.co/ZtmsRamGJv
— Cathy Myers (@CathyMyersWI) May 2, 2018