Interest in Boy Scouts Christian alternative surges following transgender decision

There has been a surge in interest about Christian scouting groups after the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced last month that it will now allow transgender children into its programs.

While the BSA has stated that church-affiliated troops could be exempted from the policy change, the interest in an alternative scouting group has increased since the announcement.

Trail Life USA, a Christian scouting organization, has been having trouble keeping up with the people checking an online locator map for troops across the country.

"We've seen tremendous response," said Trail Life CEO Mark Hancock, referring to membership inquiries. "Where many people would say that they're leaving Boys Scouts, we have many others that are saying that the Boy Scouts left them," he added.

Trail Life, which currently has about 26,000 members, has seen an increase in traffic on its website, and there have been thousands of new likes on its Facebook page, suggesting that its membership is about to swell.

Hancock said that some part-time employees have been turned to full time and some of the full-time staff have been pushed to work overtime to handle the inquiries from troops across the country.

Although Trail Life does not generally focus on the Boy Scouts, Hancock felt that the organization should be vocal about the decision to accept transgender children, which he said was "harmful to boys."

"We don't want boys psychologically, spiritually, and possibly physically scarred by the confusing message being presented by the BSA," he said, according to Religion News Service. "We don't want boys or girls subjected to compromising situations on outings in an environment where reasonable precautions are no longer enforceable," he went on to say.

The BSA, which has nearly 2.3 million members, said that since the decision, it has received numerous letters of support from religious organizations, including Mormons, Catholics, Reform Jews and United Methodists. Churches and other religious organizations charter approximately 70 percent of the Scouting units.

BSA Communications Director Effie Delimarkos said in a statement that its religious partners will continue to have the right to make decisions based on religious beliefs.

"The BSA will work with families to find local Scouting units that are the best fit for their children," she remarked.