Back in 2015, the Boy Scouts of America organization officially ended its blanket ban on gay participants in an effort to accord with the spirit of the Obergefell Supreme Court decision, which, at the time, had just effectively legalized gay marriage throughout the United States. Now in 2022, some members of a Seattle-area BSA unit have participated in a local pride parade celebration.
On Sunday, young scouts joined the annual Seattle Pride parade, carrying a mix of American and rainbow pride flags to demonstrate their support for the local LGBTQ+ community. Breitbart reports that the scouts may have even been the first group to march in the parade, leading a series of LGBTQ+-affiliated groups that also included ardent pro-abortion advocates and even some naked male cyclists.
The scouts’ participation in the pride event indicates that BSA has veered sharply away from its Christian roots and toward more secular values. Just a decade ago, BSA was embroiled in controversy for excluding gay scouts and scout leaders. Many local chapters were chartered with religious organizations, which often forbade homosexuality, as well as all extramarital sexual acts.
That all changed after Obergefell. Citing that “sea change in the law with respect to gay rights,” National BSA Executive Board members voted overwhelmingly in July 2015 to end the organization’s ban on gay members. In early 2017, BSA began allowing transgender male youth into boys-only programs, and the rule banning biological girls from joining Cub Scouts was jettisoned later that year. As a result of these membership changes, Boy Scouts of America officially rebranded itself as “Scouts BSA” in February 2019.
By Cortney Weil
