The 107-year old Boy Scouts of America has gone through a lot of changes lately... and none of them good.

In January, they announced they'd accept members based on the gender listed on their applications -- not requiring that the gender on the applications match the kid's biological gender at birth. “For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs,” the group said in a statement. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.” This, of course, would allow transgender boys to join the historical organization. 

Last week, the group -- which has always been primarily for boys -- met at the organization's headquarters in Irving, Texas to figure out how to add programs for girls. According to NBC:

At Thursday’s meeting, scouting leaders will discuss whether to open up more programs to girls and even whether to create some girls-only programs within the Boy Scouts, according to one scouting official. Some local scouting leaders said they thought admitting girls to most other scouting programs might also be discussed, including whether to allow girls to earn the highest rank of Eagle Scout.

A scouting official, however, said that Thursday’s meeting is not intended to consider making the entire program coeducational. . . .

After decades of refusing to adjust its membership rules, change has been in the air for the Boy Scouts. The current president of the organization, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, told its annual meeting last year that it must adapt in order to grow.

“We have one purpose — develop leaders by teaching them the scout law. That’s the end game. And I believe very strongly that we’re going to have to change if we’re going to succeed in that purpose,” he said, in a 12-minute address that offered no specifics about how scouting should change.

Apparently, the Boy Scouts are coming face to face with the ever-changing makeup of the family unit. Now that more and more couples are divorced, it's getting harder to get single parents to commit to Boy Scouts. One scout leader explained, "A single parent with a boy and a girl wants to be able to take them to the same place at the same time for scouting activities." But doesn't the Girl Scouts already exist? Will that group start adding boys' programs to their repertoire? Patheos blogger Jane the Actuary found a speech given by Stephenson, who spoke about his willingness to change the organization to appeal to more people. She transcribed the pertinent parts of the speech:

“Do we really want to grow this movement?” Stephenson asked the crowd at the BSA’s annual meeting last month in a 12-minute speech...

Yes, of course, the crowd responded.

“Then the changes that we’ve experienced over the last three or four years are the first steps of what’s going to be required to truly grow this movement,” he said.

How long until they decide to change the name to something that doesn't reinforce gender-binary-thinking? It seems like Stephenson's mindset of adjusting to the times will take the organization to places the founders never would've envisioned -- or approved. 

Image Credit: WikiCommons