"Boy Scouts pitch a more welcoming tent at their National Jamboree"

"Amid the hundreds of tents erected for the Boy Scouts of America’s National Jamboree, one especially stands out — decorated with a canopy of LGBTQ Pride flags and a string of multicolored lights, its tables covered with bowls of rainbow bracelets, pronoun stickers and diversity patches.

'This is my entire world,' said 18-year-old River Capell, a scout volunteer from Northern Virginia who describes themselves as nonbinary and pansexual. Since the jamboree began last week, Capell has had plenty of company under the huge canvas. 'There’s been days where there’s 2,000 kids in this tent alone. And that is just, like, absurd.'

Absurd indeed given the BSA’s traditionally conservative bent. But this first-ever affinity space for LGBTQ+ youth has been embraced at the gathering, as have similar spaces recognizing scouts of color and the first girls admitted by the organization."