The limits of inclusivity. . .

We all know that the Boy Scouts caved on everything from gay scouts and scout leaders to admitting girls to the formerly all boy program.  Perhaps we all thought that this was a great egalitarian effort to erase distinctions and embrace diversity.  Maybe not.  It appears that the Boy Scouts may have done this with a market strategy to trounce their Girl Scout organization counterpart in the great marketplace of youth organizations.  Not so fast, say the Girl Scouts.

The Girl Scouts are suing the Boy Scouts and charge the organization’s inclusive rebranding effort as a purposeful endeavor to blur distinctions and make people think either the groups have merged or the Boy Scouts has taken over the Girl Scouts.  They sued for trademark infringement hoping to prevent the inadvertent or intentional uncertainty.

Though the two separate youth organizations had long coexisted and even complemented each other,
problems arose when “core gender distinction” was altered by the Boy Scouts of America when they announced in October 2017  the doors were now open to girls.  All of this has taken on a sense of urgency since the doors open in 2019.  Earlier this year, the Boy Scouts unveiled new marketing campaign to back their efforts to include girls with a tagline “Scout Me In.”  The Girl Scouts’ lawsuit said the Boy Scouts of America had no right under New York State and federal law to use words like “scouts” or “scouting” by themselves “in connection with services offered to girls, or to rebrand itself as ‘the Scouts. ’”

Hmmmm. . .  this inclusivity and  diversity thing works fine until it impedes the marketplace.  Then it is every man er woman er person for themselves, himself, herself, person self. . .   Wow. . . I am getting to old for this. . .