Complaint seeks answers on Scouting America's transgender policy after Pentagon deal
Source: ABC News/AP
June 26, 2026, 7:46 PM
WASHINGTON -- A gay rights activist is suing the Department of Defense to answer a simple question: Did Scouting America actually agree to ban transgender members in a deal with the Pentagon? James Dale, who filed a complaint in a New York City federal court Thursday, alleges that both sides have provided conflicting answers, while the Pentagon is refusing to release a copy of its agreement with the organization.
The Pentagon made a deal with Scouting America in February that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said would refocus the organization away from diversity initiatives and other “woke” policies. Hegseth threatened to cease the military's longtime support of the organization if it failed to comply in six months, which would be in late August.
Hegseth put heavy emphasis on Scouting America’s acceptance of transgender youth, saying the organization will require members to use their “biological sex at birth and not gender identity.”
But Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, said then that the agreement did not change existing policies regarding transgender youth and that they are welcome. “We have transgender people in our program and we’ll have transgender people in our program going forward,” Scouting America President and CEO Roger Krone told The Associated Press in February.
Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/complaint-seeks-answers-scouting-americas-transgender-policy-after-134262304
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