Transgender Girl Scouts have sold over 71,000 boxes of cookies with the help of journalist Erin Reed

Halfway through cookie season, transgender Girl Scouts have sold more than 71,000 boxes — and they're still going.

Trans scouts have sold 71,254 boxes of cookies as of January 22, according to the most recent update on independent journalist Erin Reed's annual trans Girl Scout cookies list. What started in 2022 with just three girls now includes 189 scouts or their troops, helping them to reach their goals so they can travel, camp, or even give proceeds back to their communities.

"It is, in many ways, much harder today than it was back then," Reed tells The Advocate. "But also in many ways, I think the community has gotten stronger, and it's become easier and more essential to find the members that you can connect with."

Reed was first motivated to create the list for the exact reason you'd expect — she wanted to buy some cookies. Since the Girl Scouts had officially welcomed trans girls as members in 2015, it seemed like a perfect way to directly support trans youth while also getting some of the country's most beloved sweet treats.

Related: Girl Scouts reject hate group, welcome trans girls

Only it wasn't as easy to track down trans members as Reed had hoped. Even her inquiries with local LGBTQ+ groups turned up nothing, forcing her to ask her followers on social media for tips. Luckily, some responded, and as more caught wind of the list, a movement began.

To Reed, the list's bottom line isn't money — it's uplifting trans kids by "trying to just make their days a little bit better, because god knows they've got enough to deal with."

"Many of these kids are not in affirming areas. Many are in red states," she says. "Many are in places where they've been told that they're wrong for being who they are. Finding out that not only is the person that they are not a bad thing, but something that they can be proud of and something that people want to help, is meaningful. For once in life, being trans has actually helped them a little bit."

When Reed first started the list, only one state had banned gender-affirming care for youth. Today, 26 states prohibit the treatment, with six levying felony charges against practitioners who provide it. Families of trans youth have been made to travel across state lines for health care, while others have fled their homes entirely.

In Minneapolis, raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have made it too dangerous to sell cookies door-to-door. One trans girl in the area has been able to participate because of the list, which Reed says has allowed her to "sell cookies while currently under federal occupation."

Related: Here are Minnesota groups that need your help organizing against ICE and DHS operations

At $6 a box, the over 71,000 sold so far amount to more than $427,500 raised for trans youth and their troops. Beyond that, the campaign has made these scouts "feel loved, feel seen, feel respected, and feel overjoyed that they are who they are." It's also reminded their neighbors that resistance can come in many forms — and eleven flavors.

"You have this over compliance, where all of us are being roped into policing gender and policing what it means to be who we are. And the biggest thing I think that people can do is resist that," Reed says. "Resist that in any way possible. Be that annoying spoke in the wheel. Don't let these kids get crushed. Don't let these kids get hurt and do anything you have in your power to stop that."

There's still time to order Girl Scout cookies online. Please select "ship the cookies" instead of "deliver the cookies," and prioritize those who have not met their goals.