In 1992, James Dale sued the Boy Scouts of America after they kicked him out for being gay. The case lasted nearly a decade and made it all the way to the Supreme Court. 

While SCOTUS ultimately ruled against Dale in a 5-4 decision, his case paved the way for LGBTQ inclusion across the organization. In 2014, the Boy Scouts started allowing gay boys to join the organization. Three years later, the organization began allowing trans boy scouts, and a year later, girls became eligible for membership. 

But today, Scouting America is presented with a new challenge as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has put the organization “on notice,” and has threatened to pull Pentagon support if the they fail to erase what he calls “an insidious radical woke ideology,” which includes allowing trans scouts and girls to join the organization, and promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion. 

In this episode of “UNCLOSETED, with Spencer Macnaughton,” Spencer sits down with Dale to talk about his experience suing the Boy Scouts of America and why he’s ready to speak out against the new challenges created by Hegseth, who he describes as a “terrorist.” 

“UNCLOSETED, with Spencer Macnaughton” is a new podcast by Uncloseted Media, an investigative LGBTQ-focused nonprofit news publication. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. YouTube // Spotify // Apple 

For all of our journalism and for links to all our coverage, go to UnclosetedMedia.com 

Credits:

Host: Spencer Macnaughton

Audio Production Intern: Bella Sayegh

Editor: Taya Strauss

Social producer/Design: Sophie Holland

Special thanks: Jennifer Moroz and Leital Molad

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