I was a Girl Scout for 12 years. Yup. Kindergarten through my senior year of high school. I kept it a secret from all my friends. I mean, why would I share with them stories of patches and songs and bridging and cookies? Being a GS was one of the most uncool things a chubby elementary school cello player could do.
As we grew older the formalities faded and we focused more on community service. Lots of community service actually.
My troop leader’s name was George. He was my friend’s dad and he took us everywhere. Some of my fondest childhood memories include of a bunch of us singing songs on our way to some camp while squeezed into the back of George’s truck. He was never inappropriate, never mean, never creepy. He loved all of us as though we were his kids.
My father was of the absent variety, so George was really the only male figure of stability in my life. I still know him, love him, and look at him as a father figure. Because George wanted to spend quality time with his daughter, all of us girls had a part-time dad too.
This gal states that the Girl Scouts promise a “male-free environment”. That’s horse shit. The Girl Scouts promise a safe, educational environment where youngsters can get together and feel like they’re part of something. A place free from the judgment and popularity contests and the bullies we faced at our respective schools. It was a time to be yourself.
Girls Scout meetings were certainly not a place to practice religious politics.
Being transgender is real thing but for some reason many religious conservatives are in denial… as though the whole concept was just “made up” out of nowhere. Like men, and women, transgendered people have always existed. Thank god or whoever that the rest of the world is finally catching onto this. Just because one is observed a particular way physically does not mean society must define them that way. The Girl Scout organization’s philosophy is to embrace who you are and who you want to be one day. Meetings are a time to give back to your community and to better yourself, no matter what one’s “self” may look like. It’s about kids being kids!
I don’t hate this young girl. I hate her parents for slapping that obnoxious cross on her neck and forcing her to read those awful lines of bullshit. It reminds of the time, way back when I was in Christian school, when a classmate of mine raised her hand and said, “being gay is a sin”. My teacher asked why and she replied, “Because my mom and dad say that’s what Jesus said in the Bible. We have to move out of California if they legalize gay marriage.” Even at 11 years old I almost puked. Why do we teach our children to hate those who differ from us?
In my troop, way back in 1990, if a non-trans straight as an arrow dude wanted to join our troop, I think we would have let him. If a trans person wanted to join, we would have said “sure!”. After all, George was a rad troop leader.
