Boy Scouts’ big move

The Boy Scouts of America on Wednesday announced it would allow girls into some of its programs starting in 2018.

The move wasn’t a surprise: In August, the president of the Girl Scouts of the USA released a letter accusing the Boy Scouts of plotting to steal girl members. The Boy Scouts admitted they were considering programs for girls but said no decision had been made.

On Wednesday, the Boy Scouts board of directors voted unanimously to include girls.

Supporters of the move say Scouting should be a coed endeavor, open to any child who is interested. Some parents like the fact that the Boy Scouts conveniently will offer programs for all their children.

But others—the Girl Scouts for one—argue that ignoring innate differences between boys and girls and not providing places for gender-specific activity does both sexes a disservice.

“The single-gender environment we offer at Girl Scouts creates an inclusive, safe space where girls are free to explore their potential and take the lead without the distractions or pressures that can be found in a coed environment,” said Becky Burton, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Texas-Oklahoma Plains Council.

The Girl Scouts say they are sticking to their guns. “We’re the best leadership organization in the world for girls, and no one can do what we do,” read a Thursday tweet from the Girl Scouts.

Despite the fact that Cub Scout “dens” will remain either all-boys or all-girls, the program will be the same for both.

That’s a mistake, according to Mark Hancock, CEO of Trail Life USA, a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts formed in 2014.

“As gender blurring only increases, it is more important than ever that someone provide a safe environment where boys can be boys, and where their natural talents and tendencies can be affirmed, encouraged and developed by men who can offer a positive role model,” he said, adding that Trail Life has no intention of following in the footsteps of the Boy Scouts.

The shift follows numerous changes to membership requirements in Scouting in recent years. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts now allow openly homosexual scouts and leaders. In 2015, the Girl Scouts opened their ranks to transgender children who identify as girls on a case-by-case basis. The Boy Scouts followed suit this past January, deciding to accept all self-identifying male applicants regardless of the gender on a child’s birth certificate.

Dad’s magic

Babies don’t just need mom, according to new research about the role of dads in the lives of infants. A U.K. study found that when fathers actively engaged babies as young as 3 months old, the children showed cognitive gains later. The study found the gains were across social classes and were not changed by a father’s education or mental health.

The study also found a caring mother could not compensate for what only a father could provide.

“Something special was associated uniquely with positive father-care for young babies across a wide variety of circumstances,” according to a report by the study’s author, Vaheshta Sethna. “Even good mothering, for all its many benefits, wasn’t a substitute for dad’s added bit of magic.” —K.C.

The power of language

The Associated Press (AP) recently updated its stylebook entry on gender and sex. U.S. news companies reference The AP Stylebook as an authority on English usage and style. (WORLD News Group uses the stylebook for spelling, punctuation, and grammar guidelines, but with exceptions, including this one.)

The AP now encourages writers to avoid phrases like “both genders” or “opposite sexes” to include people who say they are neither male nor female. The updated stylebook also recommends describing surgeries that are part of a transgender person’s transition as “gender confirmation” surgeries instead of the previously used “gender reassignment” surgeries. AP also tells writers to avoid any reference to a transgender person being born a boy or girl. For example, “Jack, who identifies as a boy, but was born as a girl,” is considered incorrect. —K.C.

Religious protections

LGBT advocates are pushing back against a new Mississippi law that gives religious liberty protections to people who believe marriage is between one man and one woman, that sexual intercourse should take place only in marriage, and that gender is determined at birth and cannot be changed. The law—dubbed the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act—took effect Tuesday after a year of hold-ups in the courts. Within hours, opponents filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the law’s constitutionality. —K.C.