Topline
LGBTQ travel company Queer Scout pushed back against a trademark lawsuit filed by Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America, filing a motion to dismiss while accusing the organization of suing amid pressure from the Trump administration to retreat from diversity, equity and inclusion commitments.
Scouting America sued Queer Scout over trademark concerns. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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Key Facts
Queer Scout, a travel company that offers tours and experiences in Colombia for gay men, challenged both the jurisdiction and merits of Scouting America’s lawsuit, noting the complaint was filed in federal court in Texas in February, while Queer Scout is based in Arizona.
Scouting America sued Queer Scout over an application it filed to trademark its name, accusing it of “infringing and diluting Boy Scouts’ famous trademarks and falsely associating with Boy Scouts” by using an image of a fox in its logo and by using the “scout” moniker.
In a motion to dismiss filed this week, Queer Scout said the lawsuit fails to prove why a “reasonable consumer” would confuse a travel company for adult gay men with a youth scouting organization, accusing Scouting America of trying to wield a “sweeping monopoly over the common word ‘SCOUT.’”
Queer Scout founder Sam Castañeda Holdren pointed to the “broader context” surrounding the lawsuit in a statement shared with Forbes, noting Scouting America filed its complaint in late February, around the same time Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pressured the organization to drop its DEI policies.
Holdren said people are “naturally going to ask questions when an openly LGBTQ+ company becomes the target of aggressive federal litigation” during a time of “political pressure surrounding LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion.”
Scouting America told Forbes it would not comment on ongoing litigation.
Why Did Scouting America Sue Queer Scout?
Scouting America filed a lawsuit against Queer Scout in February, accusing it of infringing on Scouting America’s trademarks by filing for a trademark application and creating a website and social media presence with a logo that bears a fox, which Scouting America says resembles its own logos. Scouting America alleged Queer Scout created a “false association with Boy Scouts and Boy Scouts’ goods, programs, and services.” Scouting America alleged the services Queer Scout uses its name and logo for are “similar” to those provided by Scouting America, including “various social events, tours, camping trips” and “social entertainment events.” Scouting America’s complaint says the organization attempted to resolve the trademark concerns with Queer Scout outside of court to avoid litigation, but accused the Queer Scout of refusing to stop its use of the name and logo. Queer Scout pushed back on Scouting America’s claims in its motion to dismiss, saying, “The marks are not the same; the services are not the same; the consumers are not the same; and nothing in the Complaint plausibly explains why a reasonable consumer encountering QUEER SCOUT for adult nightlife and guided-tour services” would associate those services with Scouting America.
Defense Department Pressured Scouting America To Drop Dei Policies
The Defense Department, a longtime partner of Scouting America, pushed the organization to drop some of its diversity policies as Hegseth launched a crusade against “woke” programming. In early February, Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement the department was “reviewing” its relationship with Scouting America, accusing the organization of embracing “DEI and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.” Later that month, Hegseth said Scouting America agreed to roll back diversity programs to maintain its partnership with the Defense Department, but the organization disputed Hegseth’s claim it had banned transgender people. “We have transgender people in our program and we’ll have transgender people in our program going forward,” Scouting America president and CEO Roger Krone told The Associated Press.
Key Background
Scouting America changed its name from Boy Scouts of America in 2025, eight years after it announced plans to open its programs to girls. Gay members and employees were banned from the organization for decades, but in 2013, it dropped the ban on gay youths, and in 2015, it lifted a ban on gay adult leaders and employees. The organization embraced more diversity initiatives in 2020, unveiling a “diversity and inclusion” merit badge and voicing support for Black Lives Matter.
Tangent
The Scouting America-Queer Scout litigation has played out in the shadow of a high-profile trademark dispute between outdoor apparel company Patagonia and drag performer Pattie Gonia, which reached a fever pitch on social media this week. The apparel company filed a lawsuit against Pattie Gonia in January, alleging the performer reneged on an agreement previously made with Patagonia by filing to trademark and selling merchandise under the Pattie Gonia name. Patagonia said in an Instagram post over the weekend it would drop the suit if Pattie Gonia withdraws the trademark application, agrees not to use the company’s logos and stops selling and promoting apparel and other products as Pattie Gonia. But Pattie Gonia rejected the offer in a post on Instagram the following day, saying such an agreement would “erase” the performer as an activist. Patagonia is “not just talking about my upcycled t-shirt merch,” Pattie Gonia alleged, claiming the company’s request would preclude the performer from partnering with brands to “pay for the education, activism and advocacy that me and my team do.”
Further Reading
Pattie Gonia Rejects Patagonia’s Offer To Drop Trademark Suit—Says It Would ‘Erase My Advocacy’ (Forbes)