Saturday 20 / April / 2024
McClean, America: On a frontline of the gender equality battle in the United States is Den 13, a suburban Virginia Cub Scout unit made up of girls. The girls will become the first female Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America next year.
After more than a century as a bastion of boyhood, the Boy Scouts of America announced in October that this year it would begin letting girls join the 7- to 10-year-old Cub Scouts and more than 3,000 girls joined an Early Adopter programme this spring.
In 2019, girls 11 to 17 years old can join the "Scouts BSA" programme, which will replace the now boys-only "Boy Scouts."
Scouting alongside boys is no issue for 10-year-old Dani Hyder, the Cub Scout Den 13 member said, "I don't really mind as long as I get to do it. I don't care what gender the people I'm doing it with are." Den 13 isn't new to scouting - most of the girls have watched their brothers rise through the ranks of the Boy Scouts.
Lily Rumpf another member said, "It was like he got to do all the cool things, and I didn't. So when I got involved in this, it was really cool."
Boy Scouts of America said admitting girls is making life easier for families with brothers and sisters who want to follow the same path. Les Baron, Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts National Capital Area said, "I think our programme offers both genders exactly what we want young people to learn and embrace as they grow up."
The move comes after decades of declining membership and as attitudes towards genders change. Boy Scouts of America now has about 2.3 million members, a drop of about one third since 2000.
The organisation decided to admit openly gay scouts in 2014, and last year welcomed transgender boys.
Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts of the USA is reaffirming its commitment to girls, releasing this statement: "Girl Scouts has always proudly owned the 'Girl' in Girl Scouts, and our programming is, and always will, reflect the fact that we are girl-led and girl-centric."
