Pete Hegseth vs Scouting America: Why LGBTQ+, girls’ and diversity spaces disappeared after Pentagon pressure

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”.

That relationship carries practical weight. The US military has traditionally provided logistical assistance for the National Jamboree, while some scout groups operate on or close to military installations.


A February agreement ultimately preserved the partnership, but newly obtained documents reveal that the Pentagon will continue monitoring Scouting America’s compliance — putting Hegseth’s Defence Department in a position to scrutinise changes inside an organisation serving thousands of American children and teenagers.

The effects were visible at this year’s National Jamboree, where community spaces previously offered to LGBTQ+ scouts, girls, people of colour and scouts with disabilities were no longer part of the programme.

Hegseth threatened to pull Pentagon support

Hegseth publicly put Scouting America on notice earlier this year.

In February, the defence secretary said the Pentagon would conduct a “vigorous” review of changes at the organisation and warned that longstanding military support could end if Scouting America failed to satisfy the department by late August.

Hegseth’s objections formed part of a broader push by the Trump administration to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across institutions connected to the federal government and military.

Scouting America subsequently reached an agreement with the Pentagon in February, though the two organisations have offered differing descriptions of what exactly was agreed.

More details have now emerged after activist James Dale obtained a six-page Pentagon memo through legal action.

Dale has a long history with the organisation. He was expelled from the Boy Scouts in the early 1990s after it became known that he was gay and later pursued a landmark discrimination case against the organisation.

The newly disclosed document indicates that Pentagon and Scouting America officials would maintain regular contact to assess compliance with the agreement.

Dale accused the Defence Department of placing the organisation under persistent pressure.

“They basically have their thumb on the organisation,” he said, comparing the Pentagon’s approach to bullying.

Why the Pentagon has influence over Scouting America

The military’s relationship with American scouting stretches back more than a century.

Its role is particularly visible at major events such as the National Jamboree, where the Pentagon has historically provided logistical assistance.

Some scout troops also meet on or near US military bases.

That longstanding partnership gave Hegseth considerable leverage when he threatened to withdraw support.

When asked about how the February agreement was being enforced, the Pentagon referred to Hegseth’s previous statements about reviewing Scouting America’s policies.

The organisation itself said it remained “fully committed to welcoming and serving all youth”, but did not directly answer questions about the disappearance of the community spaces from the jamboree.

Diversity spaces disappear from National Jamboree

Around 15,000 scouts, adult leaders and volunteers have gathered in the mountains of West Virginia for this year’s National Jamboree.

The 10-day event combines traditional scouting activities such as kayaking and mountain biking with educational programmes and leadership training.

What participants did not find this year were several community spaces that had become part of recent national scouting events.

Previous gatherings included designated areas where LGBTQ+ scouts, girls, scouts of colour and people with disabilities could meet others with similar experiences.

Supporters said the spaces were particularly valuable for young people who might feel isolated within their local troops.

Samuel J. Aronson, an assistant scoutmaster who helped organise inclusion programmes at previous national events, said removing them deprived some young people of places where they felt comfortable.

Aronson ultimately decided not to attend this year’s jamboree.

Some scouts stay away after Hegseth-driven changes

The decision has been particularly difficult for members who watched Scouting America become increasingly inclusive over the past decade.

John Andrew Segebarth, a 21-year-old Eagle Scout, had planned to help staff the jamboree’s space for LGBTQ+ and allied scouts.

Segebarth, who is gay, joined scouting when he was in first grade and was elected by fellow scouts to a national leadership position in 2024.

He viewed the removal of the community spaces as a reversal by an organisation that had previously emphasised inclusion.

“Scouting's kind of walking back on its values that they told me they believed in,” he said.

He chose not to attend the jamboree.

The controversy is especially striking given Scouting America’s recent transformation.

The organisation was known as Boy Scouts of America for more than a century before announcing the Scouting America name in 2024, a change intended to reflect an organisation that had expanded beyond its traditional male membership and increasingly welcomed girls.

The disappearance of diversity-focused spaces just two years later illustrates how dramatically the political environment surrounding such initiatives has changed.

LGBTQ+ scout says she is trying to fill the gap

Not everyone who opposed the decision stayed home.

Layla Grace, a 21-year-old assistant scoutmaster, had planned to work at the LGBTQ+ and Allied Scouts community space.

For Grace, such spaces had personal significance. At a previous scouting event, a community tent became the first place where she felt able to speak openly about being transgender.

When she learned that the dedicated spaces would not return this year, she considered skipping the jamboree.

Instead, Grace travelled to West Virginia and volunteered in an area dealing with issues including mental health, education and food security.

She has also attempted to make herself visible to scouts who might otherwise have sought support at one of the cancelled community spaces, wearing rainbow symbols and painting her nails in the colours of lesbian and transgender pride flags.

“I am being as loud as I can,” Grace said, explaining that she hoped to compensate in some way for what had been removed.

Hegseth’s anti-DEI campaign reaches beyond Pentagon

The Scouting America controversy illustrates the growing reach of Hegseth’s effort to dismantle policies he views as DEI-driven.

In this instance, the pressure has extended beyond the Pentagon itself to an independent youth organisation whose historical relationship with the US military made it vulnerable to the possibility of losing federal support.

Scouting America has not said it is abandoning its commitment to welcoming young people from different backgrounds.

But for some longtime scouts, the absence of the dedicated spaces at one of the organisation’s biggest gatherings tells a different story.

And with the February agreement providing for continued contact between the Pentagon and Scouting America, the debate is unlikely to end with Friday’s conclusion of the National Jamboree.

For Hegseth, the episode represents another extension of his campaign against what he calls “woke” institutional policies. For Scouting America, it raises a more difficult question: how far it is prepared to change to preserve a relationship with the US military that has endured for more than 100 years.

(With AP inputs)