Can a Boy Join the Girl Scouts?

Actually, the answer is yes. The Girl Scouts has a rule allowing a transgendered child - meaning if the child identifies as a girl and the family treats him (her) as such, then yes, she can join the Girl Scouts.

Deborah Netburn of LA Times Nation Now blog has the story:

What does it take for an anatomical boy to be enough of a girl to join the Girl Scouts?

The question came up recently when 7-year-old Bobby Montoya -- a long-haired, Bratz-loving, biological boy -- asked his mother to sign him up for a Girl Scout troop near his Colorado home.

The troop leader said no. So Bobby's mom, Felisha Archuleta, went to the media -- telling a local television station that her son has loved "girl stuff" since he was 2, and that the troop leader's decision to reject him had left him devastated.

"I said, 'What's the big deal?' and she says, 'It doesn't matter how he looks, he has boy parts; he can't be a Girl Scout,' "Archuleta told Colorado's Channel 9 News.

But in fact, Girl Scouts of Colorado does allow people with boy parts to join its troops, as long as the child is truly transgendered -- meaning the child identifies as a girl, and the family identifies the child as a girl.

"We feel it is important to include all girls, so when a family says, 'This is my daughter and she wants to be a Girl Scout,' we are not going to question that," Rachelle Trujillo, vice president of communications for Girl Scouts of Colorado told The Times.

Link | News report over at Colorado's Channel 9 News


You handle this issue with either naivety of the transgender community or transphobia. The child is a girl, not a boy. That is the definition of being transgender. It's absolutely great that the Girl Scouts are including. It is absolutely terrible that there is a question whether she should be included.
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The answer is ...if you pay your dues and membership fee you are officially a girl scout regardless of sex or age. Now the real challenge is finding a troop who will let you join in with their activities.

When I was in 6th grade in mid 80's, 2-3 little brothers of some of the girl scouts joined our troop. Went on our campouts, did our activities, earned badges. This was mainly because the Girl Scout troop was stable and long standing while the local Boy Scout's presence was more sporatic and could go years between troops forming and dissolving. The our leaders joked if this starts a trend of more boys joining the Girl Scouts, maybe we should change it to "Pal Scouts"
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Why the need to separate Scouts in the first place? Join em together. As for this "transgendered boy is really a girl" stuff, well that's just sad.
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As far as I can tell, the difference is that Girl Scouts sell cookies and make a lot of money. The Boy Scouts charge the parents for activities and then argue about which of their leaders are gay. They should just merge.
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They could never never merge. In America the two organizations are extremely different. The main difference being that the Girl Scouts are liberal female empowerment program and Boys Scouts are a paramilitary organization sponsored by the Church of Latter Day Saints and the US Army
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