Petition to End Federal Subsidies to Scouting America (BSA) for Violations of Civil Rights and Equal Accommodation Standards
Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America) publicly markets itself as a program committed to preparing young people for ethical and moral leadership. However, despite recent changes—most notably the inclusion of girls in some units—Scouting America continues to operate a national system of discrimination, segregation, and exclusion through its partnership structure with Chartering Organizations.

Under Scouting America’s current policies, local units may be chartered to outside entities (including churches and private organizations) that are legally permitted and explicitly authorized by Scouting America to:

Exclude or segregate youth based on gender
Exclude or expel youth or adult volunteers based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression
Restrict membership based on religious belief or non-belief, requiring conformity to the chartering organization’s doctrinal standards
Maintain gender-segregated “single-sex” scouting units, even when the national organization advertises itself as “co-ed” or “family scouting”
These practices are incompatible with federal civil-rights principles, equal access standards, and modern human-rights expectations for organizations receiving federal support.

1. Federal Subsidies Must Not Support Civil-Rights Violations
Scouting America directly benefits from federal financial support through:

• Preferential use of federally managed lands
• Federally subsidized facility access
• Tax exemptions and federal program partnerships
• Federal grants received by local councils or units
• Public dollars—collected from taxpayers of all genders, orientations, and faith backgrounds—must not be used to subsidize discriminatory membership systems that deny equal participation to those same taxpayers and their children.

2. The Chartering Organization System Is a Structural Mechanism for Discrimination
Scouting America’s chartering model delegates membership control to outside organizations that may legally discriminate, while Scouting America retains the public branding, public subsidies, and benefits of a supposedly inclusive youth program.

This system allows:

• Religious institutions to ban LGBTQ+ youth or leaders
• Units to reject girls or enforce gender segregation
• Chartering bodies to exclude atheists, interfaith families, and youth of minority religions
• Discriminatory practices to persist under the national umbrella while Scouting America claims progress
• Allowing federal subsidies to support this discriminatory structure directly conflicts with federal equal-accommodation norms that govern other publicly funded youth programs.

3. Equal Opportunity Youth Programs Should Not Outsource Discrimination
No federally supported youth organization should be allowed to maintain a dual structure in which:

• The national organization claims nondiscrimination for public relations,
  while
• Local units, under BSA-approved authority, maintain exclusionary practices.
• This arrangement enables discrimination without accountability, creating a loophole in which public funds support private exclusion.

4. Civil Rights Require Enforcement, Not Exception
Title IX, the Civil Rights Act, and federal equal-access principles all reflect a core national value: public dollars must not underwrite discrimination.

Scouting America’s ongoing tolerance of discriminatory chartering practices contradicts these values and creates inequitable access to leadership development for LGBTQ+ youth, girls, non-religious youth, and children from minority faith traditions.

Petition Statement
We, the undersigned, call upon the U.S. Congress to immediately suspend and terminate all federal subsidies, grants, preferential land-use access, and publicly funded partnerships with Scouting America (BSA) until the organization:

• Eliminates discriminatory membership practices, including those carried out by chartering partners
• Enforces equal accommodation requirements for gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, and religious belief or non-belief
• Establishes a national nondiscrimination policy that binds all units, councils, and chartering organizations without exception
• Implements transparent reporting and enforcement mechanisms ensuring civil-rights accountability in all local units

Conclusion and Call to Action
Federal tax dollars must reflect federal values. Scouting America cannot continue to receive public support while enabling discrimination through its chartering system and unit-level membership policies.

Therefore, we urge Congress to end federal subsidies to Scouting America until it fully complies with modern civil-rights standards and guarantees inclusive, equal, and nondiscriminatory access for every young person in the United States.

Add your signature to demand civil-rights compliance, equal access, and the responsible use of federal funds.