Pentagon says Scouting America will alter policies to maintain support from US military

Feb 27, 2026, 7:02 AM | Updated: 7:16 am

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth enters the House Chamber before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Scouting America will alter several policies to maintain its support from the U.S. military.

The changes include a requirement that members use “biological sex at birth and not gender identity.” Hegseth has criticized Scouting America’s historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture.”

The Texas-based organization began allowing gay youth in 2013, ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015 and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting girls as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and as Boy Scouts in 2019.