US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign against diversity initiatives has reached one of America’s oldest youth organisations, with Scouting America eliminating dedicated spaces for LGBTQ+ scouts, girls and scouts of colour from its flagship National Jamboree after facing the prospect of losing Pentagon support.
The changes at the 10-day gathering in West Virginia follow months of pressure from Hegseth, who threatened to reconsider the US military’s century-old relationship with Scouting America unless the organisation moved away from policies he has characterised as “woke”.
