Revisiting the conversation around coed Scouting

From what I can tell, people are very interested in the policies defining coed participation in Scouting.

This is something I’ve been reporting on for a while, but it came to my attention again this week when I read an article by Aren Cambre, titled “The case for equity and inclusion: Ending BSA’s specious coed ban.”

Cambre holds nothing back in his searing, 31-page argument against the gender separations that currently exist in Scouts BSA units and programs. In what reads like an academic research paper—complete with extensive citations—Cambre outlines what he sees as the many problems caused by the “coed ban,” and debunks the “faulty” justifications for its existence.

“The coed ban is specious: it rests on misinformation and on sexist, racist, and harmful folklore. Its pile-on effects reduce youth safety, harm members, and harm the program,” Cambre writes.

He closes by offering solutions, chief among them allowing chartered organizations to make their own decisions about single-gender or coed units.

The document—which has been making its rounds on Facebook—is long, but worth a read. It highlights many of the frustrations that scouters in the field have experienced navigating the gender-separated, linked-troop model.

If you’re so inclined, you might also want to revisit some of my previous reporting that touches on this issue:

• In November, I challenged the BSA’s use of neuroscience to justify gender-separated troops.
• In October, I spoke with the leader of the Scouts BSA task force for diversity, equity and inclusion. Our conversation covered some of the concerns around coed participation.
• In September, I talked to Alex Mastromarchi, who runs an LGBTQ 101 course for scouters. He told me that questions around nonbinary participation, in a binary troop model, come up frequently.
• This summer, I wrote a deep analysis of the shortcomings of the BSA’s trans inclusion policies, not least of which is the gender-separation in Scouts BSA.
• And in the early days of this newsletter, I profiled one trans scout in Texas who struggled mightily to find a troop that made sense for him.

This conversation likely isn’t going away anytime soon, and I’m interested to learn more about how scouters feel, and what changes they’d like to see.

If you’ve got an opinion, suggestion or observation on this issue, jump into the conversation. Leave a comment below, and let’s talk about it.