On February 8, 2025, the Boy Scouts organization celebrated its 115th birthday by changing the official name from Scouting BSA to Scouting America. This change comes amidst an ongoing push by the organization towards inclusivity, allowing young people to be empowered and engaged citizens, regardless of their gender.

But isn’t a girl in scouting just a Girl Scout? No, Scouting America and Girl Scouts of the USA are two entirely separate organizations. While girls can participate in both, boys are not welcome in the Girl Scouts.

Since 2019, girls are welcome in all levels of Scouting America troops whose charter allows for it, including Girl Troops 9065, 9284 and 9028 who meet in Mt. Lebanon.

Troops 65 and 9065

Girl Troop 9065 is linked with boy Troop 65, meeting at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills. Linked operation means they have one committee for both troops and share much of their adult leadership, though the girl and boy troops are two distinctly separate entities.
The name change seems to be wholly positive in both troops.

Bethany Thornton is scoutmaster for girl Troop 9065 and embraces the change. “It’s hard to be someone who is female, or non-binary or transgender who is in an organization called Boy Scouts of America,” said Thornton. “So Scouting America reflects the changes happening within the organization.”

Jay Pullen, the district roundtable commissioner and assistant scoutmaster for the boy and girl troops agrees. “I don’t think it pulled people in. I think it just aligned to the changes that were already happening,” he said.

Pullen, of Morrison Drive, asked, “How can you be a girl in an organization called Boy Scouts?” There is an organizational dissonance of welcoming girls as scouts yet still calling the organization Boy Scouts.

Scouting America allowed girls and queer youth to join the organization prior to the name change, but now the name reflects the true membership makeup of troops across the nation.

Troops 284 and 9284

Less than a mile down the road, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, linked Troops 284 and 9284 share a similar experience.

Steve Byrne, Seneca Drive, former scoutmaster for Troop 9284, compared the girls’ and boys’ troops to a Venn diagram. As they meet together and open up most activities to all children, “there’s a lot of overlap,” said Byrne.

Christine Jackson of Castle Shannon Boulevard took over as Scoutmaster of Troop 9284 and thinks the presence of girls has been almost entirely positive.

“I’ve seen the girls really grow in here. Some girls that I was maybe concerned about have really grown in leadership skills and outdoor skills,” said Jackson.

“My daughter [Olivia] said she likes that it kind of diminishes the stereotype that girls can’t do what boys can do,” said Jackson. Olivia is learning to overcome such stereotypes, as she grows in scout skills and leadership.

Byrne also noted that ranks are awarded to boys and girls at the same time at their meetings. “The girls are coming along and they’re really diving right in and learning the skills. And I think that’s pushing some of the boys that have been a little bit behind to try to get caught up,” said Byrne.

Byrne and Jackson agree that there is a healthy sense of competition between the girl and boy troops. They have not noticed an uptick in girls joining the troop as a result of the organizational name change, though their girl troop is steadily growing.

“One of the parents said she likes that it’s gender neutral because her daughter doesn’t feel siloed into a gender,” said Jackson. While children do have to choose the boy troop or the girl troop to join, the overlap of the troops during activities and meetings allows children to just be themselves, regardless of their gender.

That being said, there are also logistical challenges that come from having two troops. Byrne explained, “there’s a lot of youth protection rules that get a little more complicated,” recalling that to go cabin camping, their troops ideally need to find four cabins for boys, girls, adult men and adult women. This can get tricky both financially and logistically.

Byrne and Jackson believe that despite the logistical challenges, the girls add an undeniable benefit to scouting in Mt. Lebanon.

Troops 28 and 9028

Unfortunately, some girl troops, even in a linked format, are disbanding. This is the story for Bower Hill Community Church’s girl Troop 9028, which had to sunset due to lack of participants. Their boy troop, Troop 28, is going strong.

Mike Fuson, Beverly Road, is a scoutmaster for Troop 28 and a former assistant scoutmaster for Troop 9028.

The failure of retaining a girl troop was “a typical Mt. Lebanon story of sports and other activities impacting the students’ schedule,” said Fuson. He suggests they would have had a much better chance with one coed troop, as opposed to two linked troops.

Scouting America is piloting a coed scouts program nationally, but it’s unclear if it’s close to becoming an approved practice. The Laurel Highlands Council, the governing body for all Mt. Lebanon troops, is not participating in the pilot.

However, children ages 5-10 go through the Cub Scouts, which is coed. “There were girls who wanted to come over from Cub Scouts with the boys they were friends with,” explained Fuson. He added that the venturing program for youth ages 14-21 is coed as well.

All children are permitted to scout together until age 11 and are then forced to split up for three years before scouting together again.

Fuson never saw any children complaining about the name of the organization — he only heard children say that they want to remain in scouting with their friends, regardless of their gender. “They want to go camping or adventuring with their friend group, it doesn’t matter how they identify,” he said.

“I’ve loved the inclusion of girls,” said Fuson, “and I’m looking forward to the day where anyone who wants to be a member of the troop can be.” Fuson suggested that as troops gain more female leadership, they might be able to draw more girls in.

Looking to the future

These Mt. Lebanon troops believe the Scouting America name change was a step in the right direction and hope to see more inclusion on all fronts.

Coed scouting, if approved by the larger governing body, could offer a way to do this. On a smaller scale, however, troops are trying to encourage collaboration between girls, boys and LGBTQ+ youth. As girls are readily accepted into scouting, some of the focus could be shifted toward better inclusion of queer youth into the organization.

Each troop in Mt. Lebanon offers a unique community, environment and level of inclusion, so there are options that should suit any child interested in becoming a scout.