2026年2月27日 / 美国东部时间上午10:49 / CBS/美联社
[美国童子军协会（Scouting America）]国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯周五宣布，为了维持美国军方的支持，该组织将应五角大楼的要求调整多项政策，其中包括针对跨性别青年的一项政策。
五角大楼表示，部分调整内容与该组织今年早些时候向司法部提出的建议类似，包括停止”社会公民” merit badge（荣誉徽章）并引入”军事服务” merit badge。
在赫格塞斯领导下，五角大楼将矛头对准了军方与美国童子军协会的合作关系，谴责其2024年从美国童子军（Boy Scouts）进行的历史性品牌重塑，以及近年来的其他变化。他认为这些举措是”觉醒文化”的一部分，必须加以铲除。
赫格塞斯在一段[发布在X平台（原推特）]的视频中表示，在该组织”迷失方向”并因多元化、公平与包容（DEI）举措”逐渐淡化”以及”对上帝作为宇宙统治者的关注被稀释为对人文主义和以地球为中心的异教信仰的开放态度”而”深受伤害”后，他一直”认真考虑”终止对美国童子军协会的所有支持。
赫格塞斯称，五角大楼将”大力审查”该组织过去六个月内所做的调整，如果未能达标，将停止支持。
“我们希望不会出现这种情况，但也有可能发生，”他表示，”理想情况下，我认为童子军应该回归最初创立时的状态，培养男孩成长为男人。也许有一天会实现。”
美国童子军协会周五发表声明称，他们”自豪地坚持通过与五角大楼重新建立的更牢固伙伴关系，支持全球范围内的军事家庭”。
“今天，我们正在推进新的项目内容以实现这一使命：为军人家属免除注册费，推出专注于军事服务和退伍军人的新 merit badge（荣誉徽章），并强化对童子军核心理念的承诺：领导力、品格、对上帝的责任、对国家的责任和服务精神，”该组织表示。
美国童子军协会补充说，他们将保留原名，并继续”为超过20万名参与我们项目的女孩提供服务”。
该组织2013年开始允许同性恋青年加入，2015年终止了对同性恋成年领导者的全面禁令，并在2017年宣布将接受跨性别学生。2018年开始允许女孩加入 Cub Scouts（幼童军），并在2019年将其纳入旗舰童子军项目——更名为 Scouts BSA。截至2024年5月，已有超过6000名女孩获得了令人垂涎的鹰级童子军（Eagle Scout）称号。
纽约市第157届布鲁克林阵亡将士纪念日游行中的童子军敬礼
2024年5月27日，纽约市第157届布鲁克林阵亡将士纪念日游行中，童子军们敬礼。亚当·格雷/法新社/盖蒂图片社
本月早些时候，五角大楼表示正在重新审视与该组织的关系，称其多元化、公平与包容举措”不可接受”且”违背本届政府的价值观”。
五角大楼此前曾表示，如果该组织”迅速实施常识性核心价值观改革”，他们有望达成继续合作的协议。
声明中称：”美国童子军协会仍有不足，但他们已坚定承诺回归核心原则。回归上帝与国家——即刻行动！”
美国军方与美国童子军有着长期联系，包括自1937年童子军全国大会（National Boy Scout Jamboree）创立以来，军方一直为其提供后勤支持。
军方还长期赞助美军基地的童子军部队和活动，并与鹰级童子军保持着密切关系，这些成员通常会参军入伍。
去年，美国童子军协会对美国国家公共广播电台（NPR）的一份报道表示关切，该报道称五角大楼计划削减对美军基地童子军项目、全国大会以及对入伍鹰级童子军的加薪支持。
童子军在1月份告诉赫格塞斯，在听取他的建议后，他们已制定了一份供其审查的计划，包括停止”社会公民” merit badge（荣誉徽章）、引入”军事服务” merit badge（荣誉徽章）、为军人免缴注册费、举行仪式重新承诺领导力、对上帝的责任、对国家的责任和服务精神，并解散其多元化、公平与包容委员会。
成立于1910年的美国童子军在数十年间在美国享有盛誉，其”松林车赛”、童子军誓言和鹰级童子军已成为美国文化的一部分。
传说美国商人威廉·博伊斯（William Boyce）在伦敦迷路时，被一名少年指引并拒绝接受小费，只因他是一名”童子军”（童子军1907年起源于英国），这一经历启发他创立了该组织。
自那以后，该组织面临诸多争议并经历重大变革：
1990年，该组织驱逐了一名成为助理童子军领袖的鹰级童子军，因其发现他是大学男同性恋和女同性恋组织的联合主席。1992年他提起诉讼，指控歧视，但美国最高法院裁定童子军有权维持排除同性恋者的会员和领导标准。
保守派团体支持童子军，但随着禁令持续，大量机构削减了支持。2013年禁令终止。2015年，该组织终止对同性恋成年领导者的全面禁令，但允许教会赞助的童子军部队因宗教原因维持排除规定。
2017年，美国童子军宣布允许认同自己为男孩的跨性别儿童加入仅限男孩的项目，这一决定源于新泽西州一名8岁跨性别男孩被要求离队的事件。
美国童子军还面临大量[性虐待指控]，并于2020年申请破产保护，当时已有约275起诉讼将其列为被告，保险公司称还存在1400起未决指控。
2023年，一名法官[维持了24亿美元的破产计划]，允许该组织继续运营，同时向8万多名声称在童子军期间遭受性虐待的男性支付赔偿。
去年，美国童子军协会总裁兼首席执行官罗杰·克罗恩（Roger Krone）承认品牌重塑引发部分反弹，但称总体反响积极，吸引了更多关注。
“我们采用更中性的名称，很多人因此想了解更多，”克罗恩表示。
该组织称新增了约16,000名童子军，占前一年会员总数的不到2%，当时其会员总数略超过100万。
Scouting America to alter policies including biological sex requirement to maintain military support, Hegseth says
February 27, 2026 / 10:49 AM EST / CBS/AP
[Scouting America] will change several of its policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender youths, if it wants to keep the U.S. military’s support, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday.
Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Department of Justice earlier this year, which included discontinuing its Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, the [Pentagon] said.
Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture” efforts that he wants to root out.
Hegseth said in a video [posted on X] that he had been “seriously considering” ending all Scouting America support after the organization “lost their way” and became “greatly wounded” as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts “crept in” and “the focus on God as the ruler of the universe was watered down to include openness to humanism and Earth-centered pagan religions.”
Hegseth said the Pentagon will “vigorously review” the changes the organization has made over the past six months and will cease supporting Scouting America if it fails to comply.
“We hope that doesn’t happen, but it could,” he said. “Ideally, I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”
In a statement released Friday, Scoutng America said it is “proud to uphold our longstanding commitment to military families across the globe through a renewed, strengthened partnership” with the Pentagon.
“Today we are moving forward with implementing new programmatic elements that deliver on that mission: waiving registration fees for military families, launching a new merit badge focused on military service and veterans, and reinforcing our commitment to Scouting’s foundational ideas: leadership, character, duty to God, duty to country and service,” the group said.
Scouting America added that it would maintain its name and will continue “our service to the more than 200,000 girls who participate in our programs.”
The organization began[allowing gay youth in 2013], ended a blanket ban on[gay adult leaders in 2015]and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting[girls as Cub Scouts]as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program —[renamed Scouts BSA]— in 2019. As of May 2024, more than 6,000 girls had earned the coveted Eagle Scout rank.
Cub Scouts salute as they take part in the 157th Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade in New York City on May 27, 2024. ADAM GRAY/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier this month, the Pentagon said it was reviewing its relationship with the organization, calling its DEI efforts “unacceptable” and “counter to the values of this administration.”
The Pentagon previously said it and Scouting America were nearing an agreement to continue their partnership if the organization “rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms.”
“Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles,” the statement said. “Back to God and country—immediately!”
The U.S. military and the Boy Scouts have had longtime ties, including the military providing logistical support for the National Boy Scout Jamboree since its inception in 1937.
The military also has a long history of sponsoring Scout troops and activities on U.S. military bases and has maintained a strong relationship with the Eagle Scouts, whose members often enlist in the armed forces.
In a statement last year, Scouting America raised concerns following a [report from NPR] that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as for the National Jamboree and would eliminate increases in pay grade for Eagle Scouts who enlist.
The Scouts told Hegseth in January that after hearing his suggestions, they had come up with a plan for him to review, which included discontinuing their Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, waiving registration fees for military personnel and holding a ceremony to rededicate themselves to leadership, duty to God, duty to country and service, besides dissolving their DEI board committee.
Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America achieved a vaunted status in the U.S. over the decades, with pinewood derbies, the Scout Oath and Eagle Scouts becoming part of the lexicon.
Lore has it that American businessman William Boyce was inspired to start the organization after he became lost in the fog in London and was guided to his destination by a youth who turned down a tip, telling Boyce that because he was a scout (they were formed in Britain in 1907), he couldn’t accept money for a good deed.
Since then, the organization has faced controversies and undergone significant changes.
In 1990, the organization expelled an Eagle Scout who had become an assistant scoutmaster after discovering he was co-president of his university’s gay and lesbian organization. He sued in 1992, alleging discrimination and lost at the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Scouts could maintain membership and leadership criteria that excluded gay people.
Conservative groups rallied around the Boy Scouts, but scores of institutions curtailed support as the ban continued. The ban ended in 2013. In 2015, the organization ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.
In 2017, the Boy Scouts announced that they would allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll in their boys-only programs. That came after an 8-year-old was asked to leave his Scout troop in New Jersey after parents and leaders found out he was transgender.
The Boy Scouts also faced a flood of [sexual abuse claims] and sought bankruptcy protection in 2020, when it had been named in about 275 lawsuits and had told insurers it was aware of another 1,400 claims.
In 2023, a judge[upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan], allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed claims saying they were sexually abused while in scouting.
Last year, Scouting America’s President and CEO Roger Krone acknowledged some backlash to the rebrand but described the overall response as a positive one that generated wider interest.
“The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it,” Krone said.
The organization said it saw a gain in membership of about 16,000 new scouts, less than 2% from the prior year. The organization said at the time that it had just over 1 million members.
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