Girl Scouts Admit Transgender Boy to Troop
Bobby Montoya has been identifying as a girl since the age of two, despite being born with "boy parts". His family has always supported him whether it was his choice in toys or clothes, hairstyles or what he wanted to do with his time. When he wanted to join a Colorado Girl Scout troop, however, the group wasn't so understanding and turned him down.
According to Bobby's mother, the leader said he couldn't be a Girl Scout because he has "boy parts". But when his mother took it to the next level (and the media), the Girl Scouts said that the leader was wrong and the organization does take transgendered kids. They said in a statement:
“If a child identifies as a girl and the child’s family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout. Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them.”
According to the Toronto Star: Girl Guides of Canada said in a statement that they have never been asked to admit a transgendered child and they are "looking into best practices, policies and procedures for supporting transgendered children.”
We happend to know a few girls who like the famous Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, will only wear boys clothing, much to the surprise and sometimes dismay of their parents. The parents of these kids accept their daughters' clothing choices, and are aware that it may, or may not mean more. A friend told me that she and her husband did have a difficult discussion about what they would do if their daughter was indeed, in the wrong body. It wasn't a long discussion because they knew that they would always love and support their child, no matter what she or he decided.
According Gender Spectrum, an advocacy group, some children identify with the opposite sex for a time and then revert to their gender, but kids who have consistently said they want to be the other gender throughout their life, may in fact be transgendered. There are no reliable statistics on how many people are cross-gendered.
Supporting you kids is the basic tenet of parenting; and these cases show us examples of parents supporting and advocating for their kids, no matter what.
The Girl Scouts came down on the side of inclusiveness; would you? What would you say if there was a boy in your daughter's Girl Guide group? What would you say if your child identified with the opposite sex?
Want more chaos? Last year, I wrote about the worst parenting advice I ever got and why it may have been the best for you. (I admit, I like this post.)
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