After a Denver Girl Scout troop decided to allow a 7-year-old transgender child into the troop -- reiterating that Girl Scouting was about empowerment and inclusion -- a representative from Colorado's statewide organization, Rachelle Trujillo, told The Christian Post that "if parents brought a child to a meeting, and the child is recognized in the community as their daughter, then the Girl Scouts accept that. We don't require proof of gender."
She went on to emphasize that inclusion policies should be handled, as they always have been, at a regional level.
While parents of trans kids applauded the decision, apparently not all Girl Scout moms were happy. According to The Christian Post, three troop leaders in rural Louisiana resigned their posts and are dissolving their troops over the inclusive policy. All three leaders were affiliated with Northlake Christian School in the town of Covington.
Those leaders called a trans welcoming policy "extremely confusing" and "dangerous situation." Their former Girl Scout troops are now expecting to align themselves with the American Heritage Girls, a Christian organization that was founded in 1995 in response to the Girl Scouts' decision to let scouts use a word other than "God" in their pledge.
Ever the beacon of reason, Jeff Johnston of Focus on the Family told the Baptist Press that allowing transgender children to join the Girl Scouts "will lead to growing societal confusion about gender. Strong cultural campaigns are already under way to teach that gender doesn't matter and to promote more than two genders." He went on to say that mothers in Colorado have contacted Focus on the Family to express concern about their kids "attending camping trips with boys pretending to be girls."
And that little 7-year-old trans girl? According to Trujillo, her mother is still trying to decide what's best for her at this point, perhaps waiting until the media hoopla over her participation dies down.
