Membership in the Boy Scouts of America has plummeted to less than half what it was just two years ago as the organization faces mounting sex abuse claims and falling support from conservative families.

In 2019, nearly 2 million boys called themselves Scouts. But The Associated Press reported Friday that BSA’s Cub Scouts and Scouts programs fell 43% from 2019 to 2020 — an unprecedented drop for a single year — and has plunged further since then to about 762,000.

All told, Boy Scouts has lost about 2 million members in the last eight years, according to The Christian Post.

At the same time, the AP reported, Boy Scouts has filed for bankruptcy protection and is preparing to pay as much as $600 million to beef up a trust fund for tens of thousands of victims who were molested by Scouting volunteers.

President and CEO Roger Mosby told the AP that its local councils may have to sell off camps and other properties to cover the cost. It’ll hike dues, too. The annual youth membership fee is going up from $66 to $72 this summer.

Boy Scouts membership has been falling for more than two decades. Troops have competed for members with sports leagues and other family commitments as well as a perception that it’s old-fashioned, according to the AP. But for conservative Christians, a perceived shift left played a part, too.

In 2013, the organization announced it would start allowing gay boys to join. Tim Hester told The Christian Post shortly after the Boy Scouts’ announcement in 2013 that his church, Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, booted the Boy Scout troop it had hosted because of the organization’s decision.

“We want everyone, including ourselves, to live by biblical standards,” Hester was quoted as saying. “Truly for us it’s a logical decision … We cannot be distracted from the mission God has called us to.”

Since then, Boy Scouts has also lifted its prohibition against openly gay Scout leaders.

Both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the USA saw steep declines during the coronavirus pandemic. Girl Scouts membership fell about 30%, the AP reported, to just over a million this year.

Boy Scouts also started allowing girls’ Cub Scout dens to form in 2018. The regular Scouts BSA program followed suit the next year, allowing the formation of all-girls Boy Scout troops.

Girl Scouts, whose membership was also shrinking, complained that Boy Scouts was just trying to recruit girls to bolster its dwindling rosters. Those efforts, Girl Scouts alleged, undermined the Girl Scouts brand. And conservatives argued the change devalued of traditionally feminine pursuits.

But Boy Scouts’ decline in membership — and dues revenue — didn’t stop when it started letting girls in. If anything, it accelerated.

And alternative organizations for boys and girls have drawn thousands of families in recent years.

Trail Life USA, a Christian program for boys, has more than 30,000 members just seven years after launching, according to its blog. The Christian program American Heritage Girls is even bigger, with more than 50,000 members, according to its website.

Trail Life CEO Mark Hancock told The Christian Post the organization had seen its membership grow 70% in the last year.

“Just this year, we have seen over 65 new troops started as men across the nation have stepped up to lead and make a difference in the lives of boys in their churches, their families and their communities,” Hancock was quoted as saying.

Sarah Einselen is an award-winning writer and editor based in Texas.