Gilozard: I don't get the hate over Boy Scouts. I've never seen them being rude about it, they just have certain limits to their organization. That's OK - there's lots of organizations that do that (most, in fact). Boy Scouts aren't government related or serving the public. There's multiple competing learn-survival-skills groups, it's not like the Boy Scouts have unique arcane knowledge. If you don't like it, support some other organization and make a difference.
dtgreene: It's not the actual Scouts themselves that is the problem, but rather the organization.
You mention that Boy Scouts are not government related, but from what I hear, those who get Eagle Scout status get a free military promotion (if they join the military), which is a bit too much entanglement with the government. That alone is enough to make their discrimination unacceptable. (Then again, I consider such discrimination unacceptable even without this factor.) Also, I have seen Boy Scouts in a Memorial Day event that is held in a public school. That's another case of government entanglement.
Also, imagine the outcry if the Boy Scouts were an all-white organization; black boys weren't allowed to join, and neither were any other non-white people. That is essentially what we are getting here, except over different traits.
Another thing to note, what if a boy is in Boy Scouts but then realizes that he is an atheist? There have been cases where someone meets all the other requirements for being an Eagle Scout but is denied because the higher ups found out and don't like it. (The same has happened for gay scouts.)
The problem with competing groups is that they aren't really prevalant enough. There may not be any such groups in the area. Even if there are, one still needs to locate such groups. Even then, a student could be bullied in school for not being part of the "in" group, in this case Boy Scouts.
So, in conclusion, the Boy Scouts discrimination is a problem.
By the way, none of what I said applies to the far more liberal Girl Scouts, which are a separate organization.
(Then again, why separate Scouts by gender anyway? Other countries don't do that.)
Most businesses do something similar with Eagle Scouts. They've demonstrated qualities that many organizations think are worth a promotion. That doesn't mean that Boy Scouts are part of the government or part of whatever business they're in. It means that the government, like every business I've been in, wants to have Eagle Scouts.
The qualifications of becoming an Eagle Scout might be weirdly specific, but if someone stops meeting them than the organization has the right to deny it. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it's indisputably their right and not necessarily discrimination so long as they're upfront about it so no one is surprised. I always thought the Boy Scouts were pretty upfront, but YMMV.
If the problem is that other groups aren't prevalent enough...start a branch.
Re: Camps
Separating middle/high schoolers by gender massively reduces the headaches for organizers and attendees. It's hard to overstate how much. Everyone is less stressed out if the camps are same-sex for overnight stays at that age.
Plus, boys and girls are different, and having a balance of shared space / separate space for the genders is good for kids IME. YMMV, but I think it really helps to show kids that there's time to be stereotypical
and time to not be stereotypical, and it's a lot easier for them when they don't have to worry about performing for the other gender.