(LifeSiteNews) — After years of turmoil and upheaval resulting in a major identity crisis, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced today that it’s changing its name to Scouting America in order to be “more inclusive.”
The rebranding comes as the troubled organization emerges from bankruptcy after a tsunami of allegations of sexual abuse rocked the once-beloved, venerable institution geared to forming boys into men.
In all, more than 80,000 men came forward to file claims alleging that they were sexually abused while in BSA programs, resulting in a $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan that was approved by a federal judge last year.
The BSA began welcoming homosexual-identifying boys in 2013, and in 2015 halted its ban on gay adult scout masters.
In 2017, the organization announced that girls who identify as “transgender” could enter their boys-only programs. In 2018, the scouts fully opened their membership to girls.
As a result, Scouting America currently serves more than 176,000 girls and young women across all programs, including over 6,000 who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout, according to a press release.
In a video posted to X, CEO Roger Krone delivered a woke-drenched explanation for the change, saying it sends a “really strong message to everyone in America that they can come to this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are, and they will be welcomed here.”
The announcement met with a quick backlash on social media.
“This is an act of intentional demoralization against normal Americans and the former key constituency of the Boy Scouts: patriotic, hard working American boys and their families,” wrote William Wolfe, executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, on X.
“Everything good must be deformed in service of the revolution,” he added.
“The Boy Scouts chose the woke over the church kids that made up the backbone of their membership,” conservative author John Hawkins asserted. “Now they’re as good as dead. They deserve it. The kids didn’t. But the Boy Scouts do.”
“Once again, wokeness ruins everything,” outspoken conservative Hollywood star Matthew Marsden said.
“It started with allowing girls into the Boy Scouts. That’s when I pulled my son out of it,” Marsden noted. “This organization helped equip young boys with the skills to become real men and this move is another attack on them.”
“They will be financially bankrupt in 10 years,” he predicted.
Another X user, tongue firmly in cheek, suggested that the new name, Scouting America, might not be inclusive or woke enough.
“What, not the They/Them scouts?”