SCOTUS Affirmed the Scouts’ Right to Exclusion and Inclusion

(SeaPRwire) –   At age 8, I became a member of the Boy Scouts, which is now called Scouting America.

Just before turning 20 in 1990, the organization informed me I was no longer welcome.

I had achieved the Eagle Scout rank and devoted my youth to service. My childhood felt like a lie.

Their justification: Scouts must be “morally straight.” They claimed being gay conflicted with the Scout oath to lead with “honesty, to be clean in your speech and actions, and to be a person of strong character.”

I filed a lawsuit. Lambda Legal represented me. For a decade, we battled to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2000, the Court ruled 5-4 against me. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion that the Boy Scouts of America, as a private organization, possessed a constitutional right to establish its own membership criteria, even if that meant excluding individuals like me.

I was defeated.

A quarter-century later, the federal government is doing precisely what the Supreme Court ruled it could not: pressuring a private organization about who may belong. In my case, New Jersey had enacted a law forcing the Scouts to accept me. But the Court determined the state lacked that authority.

Currently, no law exists. Nevertheless, the Department of War is threatening to withdraw military support unless Scouting America alters its membership policies. This isn’t a legal justification. It’s authoritarian interference with a private organization.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s actions do not uphold Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. They disregard it.

The Supreme Court’s ruling centered on a simple principle: private associations may define their own message, and government cannot compel that choice. The Court backed the Scouts in 2000 because it held that the organization had a right to express itself through membership decisions free from federal meddling. I despised that ruling. I still do. But at least it was consistent.

What is occurring now is not.

Secretary Hegseth declared that Scouting America had agreed to determine membership based on “biological sex at birth and not gender identity.” Scouting America disputes this claim. Roger Krone, the organization’s president and CEO, stated plainly: “We have transgender people in our program, and we’ll have transgender people in our program going forward.” Scouting also rejected two demands that would have been fundamental: returning to the Boy Scouts name and eliminating its female members. It did neither.

This is what actually occurred: Hegseth claimed victory regarding a policy Scouting says it never accepted.

Indeed, some modifications were made to maintain the military partnership. A merit badge for those who “realize the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethical leadership” was eliminated. And children of active-duty military receive free registration. The Secretary of War may label these as victories, but they don’t transform the essence of Scouting—nor any legal precedent.

When I lost my case, the Supreme Court granted the Scouts a constitutional shield: the right to determine their own membership without government interference. Hegseth isn’t misinterpreting that decision. He’s disregarding it when it obstructs his agenda.

Now the federal government is employing base access, military installation support, and logistical assistance for the National Jamboree as leverage over Scouting’s internal policies. Attorneys term this the Doctrine of Unconstitutional Conditions: government cannot make a benefit contingent on a person or group surrendering a constitutional right. Everyone else calls it extortion.

I was raised in Scouting. The values were genuine to me then, and I spent decades striving to make the organization live up to them. That’s why I understand that the Scout Oath’s focus on being “morally straight” was never about biology or politics. It’s about courage, honesty, and integrity under pressure.

Scouting America retained its name. It continues to accept girls. According to its leadership, it’s also retaining its transgender members.

In 2000, the Court ruled that the Scouts had the right to be exclusive. Today, that identical right safeguards their decision to be inclusive.

I have waited 25 years for Scouting America to reach this point.

And thanks to the Supreme Court, Scouting America will not revert.