There is a beautiful glimmer of hope and light arising amidst our current political climate of darkness and fear.
Let’s start with some context.
The Boy Scouts of America is the renowned organization, widely known for “providing programs for young people that build character and trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship and develops personal fitness.” This passage, as part of the Boy Scouts’ mission statement, goes on to say that the “Boy Scouts of America has helped build future leaders by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun…helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible and productive society.”
Despite this organization’s good intentions, wonderful role-modeling for young American children, and incredible achievements, there’s also been a long history of homophobia.
For an example of this homophobia – actually, transphobia in this instance to be exact – in 2015, an 8-year-old boy named Joe Maldonado from New Jersey was kicked out of Boy Scouts in discrimination for being transgender. While Boy Scouts of America is a private organization, and therefore is exempt from obligatory abiding by New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination, they informed Joe’s mother, in full knowledge of Joe’s gender identity, that he was permitted to join. The organization then proceeded to kick him out following transphobic complaints by fellow mothers in the troop.
According to another article covering Joe’s story, via CNN, the Scouts’ policy informed the family that membership is determined by your birth certificate, you must “go by…what you’re born with.”
CNN journalist Shachar Peled, via the insights of Jean Malpas, director of the Gender and Family Project at the Ackerman Institute, illuminates that this mindset “reflects a common misunderstanding of the difference between assigned sex and gender identity.”
"It would make sense for an organization based on gender categories to use gender, not assigned sex, as a membership requirement," Malpas said.
Dr. Johana Olson-Kennedy, Medical Director of the Center for Trans-Youth Health and Development at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, remarked that "this early experience of discrimination for these children is an unnecessary message of rejection," rooted in lack of knowledge and experience.
This incident reflects the danger of trapping ourselves in the constructed gender binary that severely restricts definition of masculinity and femininity. As we see with the case of Joe Maldonado and with the Trans community across the nation and the world, allowing gender expression to be defined by anyone besides the individual in question lf is cruel, bigoted, corrupt, and even life-threatening.
Despite having to face crippling discrimination and bigotry at such a young age, Joe Maldonado is a trooper (pun intended). "I felt very upset but then very angry because it's just not fair that because I was born a girl they won't let me in," he responded to CNN, “Now I'm never going there again. Maybe to another Boy Scouts, but not that one. They kicked me out when I was having so much fun, and they ruined it.”
So overall, with this terrible rejection of Joe Maldonado and with the Boy Scouts’ further history of homophobia and exclusion of openly gay membership, this organization’s track record isn’t great.
However, back to the point of this article, there’s been a progressive step forward this January of 2017.
On January 30, to be exact, the Boy Scouts of America published “BSA Addresses Gender Identity” on their website.
Michael Surbaugh writes and narrates in his video:
“For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports, and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs. However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state…Starting today, we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs based on the gender identity indicated on the application…The Boy Scouts of America is committed to identifying program options that will help us truly serve the whole family, and this is an area that we will continue to thoughtfully evaluate to bring the benefits of Scouting to the greatest number of youth possible – all while remaining true to our core values, outlined in the Scout Oath and Law.”
While it is unclear whether or not the Boy Scouts organization will actually prove to be more accepting, this statement is a huge step forward in progress towards eradicating transphobia and homophobia. It is vital to the lives and health of kids across the United States that we push for this kind of progress in gender identity and fluidity. There is no right or wrong way to be you.
