Jan. 11th, 2012

neversremedy8: (Soap Box)
A misguided attempt at "standing up for her principles" leads this young woman to boycott the Girl Scouts and their on-going "bake sale" (i.e. Girl Scout cookie sales) because the Girl Scouts have allowed in transgendered members.

Her video can be seen here, talking about Girl Scouts values she's embodied over the years, but apparently she forgot to be caring, compassionate and inclusive.

This is my letter to her:

Greetings,

I'm not sure if you're aware of the meaning of being transgendered. These are not boys being allowed into the Girl Scouts, but girls who happen to have male genitalia. As the mother of a child whose father is a male-to-female transgendered individual, I can only think how lucky those girls are to not only have parents who support their identities, but a community in which they can access their feminine selves without persecution.

Or at least, they're almost lucky, because they're still living in a world where being born into one body, but knowing they're someone else, means they will be ridiculed at every turn, find difficulty in finding jobs as adults, and even in the Girl Scouts, as you've proven by your actions, be made to feel out of place and unworthy of the rites of young womanhood.

While transgendered women will never menstruate or be able to give birth, there are many women born with female bodies who can say the same. Are they any less women? No.

I'm happy to see the Girl Scouts, as an organization, embrace diversity in all its forms, and be inclusive of all young women, whether they were born with vulvas or not. I have, for years, boycotted the Boy Scouts of America for their bigotry against homosexuals (a separate, but no less atrocious form of persecution), and considering the messages I heard as a Girl Scout, to be caring, kind, compassionate, and giving, as well as strong and innovative, I have a hard time understanding how you, who clearly embody at least some of their principles, would be so willing to ignore others.

You are being presented a learning opportunity, to shed the narrow view of gender, and embrace the chance to understand people who, until now, you might have found threatening or uncomfortable. Gender isn't fixed in one's genitals, it is a fluid spectrum of behaviors, and just because the American culture has yet to fully embrace transgendered citizens, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them or that they should be denied the right to explore a community with strong roots as the Scouts have.

Good luck in your endeavors. I hope you find acceptance in your heart for the many people out there who, by birth or accident, simply don't fit into a standard.

Be well,
Fanny

P.S.
Even though I'm allergic to wheat, I think I'll be purchasing several boxes of Girl Scouts cookies whenever I have the opportunity. Troops still ship them to American soldiers, correct?

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