The hot takes on Fox News tonight are sure to be extra spicy, because the cleanest, most helpful examples of all-American, gender-segregated, God-fearing youth have voted to allow girls—temptation-filled, cootie-ridden girls—into their ranks. That’s according to the New York Times, which reports that the Boy Scouts of America board of directors voted unanimously today to allow girls into the Cub Scout program, open to children in first through fifth grade or between the ages of seven and 10, starting next year. A program for older girls that goes all the way up to the coveted rank of Eagle Scout will be introduced next year for a 2019 launch. The Boy Scouts previously voted to allow transgender boys to join earlier this year, and lifted its ban on gay scout leaders in 2015.
The move comes after two nationwide surveys which showed that American parents not already involved in scouting showed high levels of interest in enrolling their daughters in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, according to NBC News. The National Organization for Women has also been pushing for integration at the Eagle Scout level, taking up the cause of Sydney Ireland, a New York teenager who wants to follow in her brother’s footsteps as an Eagle Scout. “I just want to do what the Boy Scouts do—earn the merit badges and earn the Eagle Award,” Ireland tells NBC News. “The Girl Scouts is a great organization, but it’s just not the program that I want to be part of.”
But while women who bitterly recall sitting on wet logs sewing while the boys got to play with knives might be enthused by the new, gender-neutral recruitment effort, Girl Scouts of America president Kathy Hopinkah Hannan is less excited. In a letter sent to the Boy Scouts last month, Hannan earned her merit badge in shade when she wrote, “I formally request that your organization stay focused on serving the 90 percent of American boys not currently participating in Boy Scouts,” accusing the Boy Scouts of trying to undercut her organization through a “covert campaign to recruit girls.” But hey, why not allow children of all genders to join the Girl Scouts as well, if that’s what they want to do? The more kids out there selling Thin Mints the better, honestly.