According to CNN, the Girl Scouts organization has filed a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts Of America over its decision to accept membership from girls and change its name to Scouts BSA, which Girl Scouts says has “marginalized” its “brand and activities.” Boy Scouts Of America has been planning this shift away from gendered activities since last year, with the name change being announced back in May, and Girl Scouts has maintained that this will undermine its own work with kids. The people in charge of Girl Scouts now say that only their organization “has the right to use the Girl Scouts and Scouts trademarks with leadership development service for girls,” but the Scouts BSA name change has apparently led to confusion from parents who mistakenly believe that Girl Scouts has merged with the Boy Scouts. Girl Scouts is looking for both monetary damages and a “permanent injunction against trademark infringement.”
Basically, it sounds like Girl Scouts is saying that Scouts BSA has to choose between accepting membership from girls or using the “Scouts” name, as doing both as an infringement on its trademark. The Boy Scouts Of America has released a statement, saying it is “reviewing the lawsuit,” but it also notes that the only thing that should really matter here is working to help kids of all genders: “We applaud every organization that builds character and leadership in children, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, and believe that there is an opportunity for both organizations to serve girls and boys in our communities.”
Obviously, the only solution here is to have both organizations accept membership from children of any gender, so kids can join whichever one they want. It’s 2018, we can all afford to be more progressive. Also, both should sell cookies and teach kids how to tie various knots. One can be called Scouts A and the other can be Scouts 1, so kids should just join whichever one is closest to their house.
