DAYS OF LOT: Boy Scouts, Reversing Century-Old Stance, Will Allow Transgender Boys
Reversing its stance of more than a century, the Boy Scouts of America
said on Monday that the group would begin accepting members based on
the gender listed on their application, paving the way for transgender
boys to join the organization.
“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,” the group said in a statement
on its website. “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.”
The announcement, reported on Monday night by The Associated Press, reverses a policy that drew controversy late last year when a transgender boy in New Jersey was kicked out of the organization about a month after joining.
“After
weeks of significant conversations at all levels of our organization,
we realized that referring to birth certificates as the reference point
is no longer sufficient,” Michael Surbaugh, the Scouts’ chief executive,
said in a recorded statement on Monday.
The
announcement came amid a national debate over transgender rights, with
cities and states across the nation struggling with whether and how to
regulate gender identity in the workplace, in restrooms and at schools.
In recent years, the Boy Scouts of America has expanded rights for gay people. In 2013, the group ended its ban on openly gay youths participating in its activities. Two years later, the organization ended its ban on openly gay adult leaders.
Advocates for gay and transgender people who had pushed for changes in Boy Scouts’ policy praised Monday’s announcement.
“From
our perspective, they clearly did the right thing,” said Zach Wahls,
who co-founded Scouts for Equality, a nonprofit group that advocates for
stronger protections in the organization for gays and transgender
people. “My team and I knew that they were considering a policy change,
but we are both heartened and surprised by how quickly they moved to
change the situation.”
Last
year, in response to parent complaints, the Boy Scouts of America
removed an 8-year-old transgender boy from the Secaucus, N.J., Cub Scout
pack he had joined just about a month earlier, according to The Record, a newspaper in northern New Jersey.
“It
made me mad,” Joe Maldonado, the boy, told the newspaper. “I had a sad
face, but I wasn’t crying. I’m way more angry than sad. My identity is a
boy. If I was them, I would let every person in the world go in. It’s
right to do.”
Joe’s
case may have been the first in which a transgender boy was ejected
from the program, Mr. Wahls, a former Eagle Scout, said.
When
Mr. Wahls helped found Scouts for Equality in 2012, the Boy Scouts of
America did not yet allow gay scouts or leaders, and “there was zero
conversation about transgender issues.”
While
he was encouraged by what appeared to be the group’s quick decision on
accepting transgender scouts, Scouts for Equality plans to push for a
more formal policy, Mr. Wahls said.
“We want to make sure that they work with experts who have experience with transgender youth and youth programs,” he said.
The
Boy Scouts of America claim nearly 2.3 million members between the ages
of 7 and 21, and the group counts many notable figures among its alumni
and volunteers.
One
of them, Rex W. Tillerson, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of
state, was involved in getting the organization to accept gay scouts and
leaders. He was the national president of the Boy Scouts of America
from 2010 to 2011 and served on its executive board in 2013 when it voted to lift the ban on gay scouts.
That
decision came after years of reluctance from the organization and a
wrenching internal debate that involved threats from some conservative
parents and volunteers that they would quit. When the ban on gay leaders
was reversed in 2015, the Mormon Church, the largest sponsor of
scouting units, briefly threatened to leave the group as well.