This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In what is being viewed by many as a final plunge into wokeness, the Boy Scouts of America has announced a name change.
No longer will the name include "Boys."
USA Today reported the organization said its goal is to be more "inclusive."
To which one social media commenter noted, "What exclusion has there been? There's 'The Boy Scouts' and 'The Girl Scouts' … Am I missing something?"
It already was several years ago that the Boy Scouts agreed to allow girls to join, actually drawing a lawsuit from "The Girl Scouts."
Homosexual youth were allowed to join in 2013, and a ban on homosexual leaders ended in 2015. Girls were allowed to join in 2017.
The problem for the organization, however, had been hundreds of claims and lawsuits over abuse by adult leaders of children.
The organization filed for bankruptcy protection and last year agreed to a $2.46 billion settlement of claims from thousands.
The social media reaction included some darkly negative assessments: "Find another program to put your kids in. Pretty soon it will be run by drag queens and called twerk camp."
Radio host Mark Davis added, "God help us. We can't have 'Boy Scouts' anymore."
Back a few years ago, Erik Rush wrote in a commentary at WND, "Apart from acknowledging the undeniable ignominy of this once highly respected organization facing hundreds of lawsuits stemming from the sexual abuse of children, one next wonders how an outfit with a 110-year history of teaching boys how to become virtuous men and good community stewards wound up plummeting from such heights."
He noted, "In July of 2015, the Boy Scouts of America announced that it was lifting its national ban on homosexual adult leaders. This came after years of activist pressure, during which the BSA was encouraged to admit homosexual Scouts, Scout leaders, and, finally, girls to their ranks."
He continued, "Homosexuals were allowed into the Boy Scouts. The BSA is now experiencing an epidemic of sexual misconduct and lawsuits. This was not the case prior to their admittance of homosexuals into the organization. At this point, denying the correlation is as irrational as denying the existence of gravity."
Ironically, it was no less than the U.S. Supreme Court that said, as a private organization, the Boy Scouts were allowed to limit membership to those who met the group's qualifications.
In that case, the high court said under the constitutional right to freedom of association, the BSA was not doing anything unconstitutional by banning homosexuals from its ranks.
The decision came in a fight over a state law demanding "equal treatment" of homosexuals in "public accommodations."
In general, the ruling found that private organizations like the BSA may exclude a person from membership when "the presence of that person affects in a significant way the group's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints."
Shortly after its actions were formally endorsed by the court, the organization voluntarily abandoned them.
