Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, has said it is “surprised and disappointed” by a report that the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, could sever all military ties to the organization for being “genderless” and failing to “cultivate masculine values”.
In a draft memo to Congress obtained by NPR, Hegseth criticized Scouting America, which began admitting girls in 2018, for purportedly attempting to “attack boy-friendly spaces”.
“It is no longer a meritocracy which holds its members accountable to meet high standards,” Hegseth wrote.
The US military has provided support to the Scouts for more than a century. But in the memo, Hegseth said: “The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys.”
His proposal, which has not yet been sent to Congress, calls for the Pentagon to pull medical and logistical aid to the National Jamboree, a gathering of up to 20,000 Scouts at a remote site in West Virginia about every four years. It also looks to prohibit Scouting troops from meeting at military installations in the US and abroad.
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