While the Girls Scouts’ policy of including transgender girls isn’t anything new – a Denver troupe made headlines in 2012 for including a transgender girl – recent criticism from anti-LGBT groups, along with the increasing visibility of transgender youth and adults in the media, have brought the Girl Scouts’ policy back into the limelight, writes Beth Sherouse on the HRC Blog.
Their website FAQs have stated their inclusive policy for several years:
“Girl Scouts is proud to be the premier leadership organization for girls in the country. Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/group in question a top priority. That said, if the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.”
For transgender and other gender-expansive children and youth, being supported and having their identities affirmed by both their families and their peers is incredibly important. The HRC Foundation’s 2012 Youth Survey found that only 5 percent of gender-expansive youth felt that they “definitely fit in” in their community, and 30 percent reported “definitely not fitting in.” Social marginalization can put these youth at increased risk for depression, anxiety, suicidality and experimentation with drugs and alcohol.
“Scouting is such a big part of many children’s lives,” HRC Foundation Director of Children, Youth, and Families, Ellen Kahn told CNN. The Girl Scouts’ policy sends the important message that “if you’re a girl, you belong here, and who are they to question someone’s gender identity? They recognize that’s not for them to do.”
