Hundreds Of Volunteers Threaten To Quit UK’s Largest Scouting Group For Girls Following Girlguiding’s Trans Ban
One week after announcing that only girls recorded female at birth could join, hundreds of volunteers threaten to quit.
Featured Image: via Getty Images (credit, Per Breiehagen)
Last Tuesday, Dec. 2, Girlguiding, the British equivalent of the Girl Scouts, issued a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that we are announcing trans girls and young women will no longer be able to join Girlguiding. This is a decision we would have preferred not to make, and we know that this may be upsetting for members of our community.”
Leadership placed the blame on expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members and their Council, the Board of Trustees and ultimately April’s UK Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender—even as it went on to state that “Girlguiding believes strongly in inclusion, and we will continue to support young people and adults in marginalized groups.”
Turns out there was one subset of Girlguiding on which the blame could not be placed: the volunteers. And those volunteers, who said they were never consulted, have a statement of their own:
“We cannot, in good conscience, uphold a policy that contradicts established safeguarding research, the lived experience of our members, and the inclusive ethos we were trained to deliver. It is because of this commitment that we must express our collective concern regarding the recent amendments to the organization’s policy on transgender participation… ” The wording is at the core of a petition led by Amanda Jane Heather—a “Collective Letter of Intent to Resign” with 265 signatures currently.
Addressed to the Girlguiding Leadership, the petition goes on to say that the volunteers appreciate the complex societal pressures that must be navigated, but cite “serious ethical and safeguarding concerns about the implications of excluding transgender young people from a girl-centered environment.”
Image: Girlguiding’s “say it loud, say it proud” Speaking Out Badge
Girlguiding’s Facebook followers were not shy to voice displeasure with the new rule. “I was really proud of our previous, properly inclusive policy and am struggling hugely with this decision… ” wrote one person. “Such a disappointing, devastating decision. This is not the Girlguiding I have been so proud to represent,” wrote another. “Any fellow Brownie leaders want to do our Speaking Out badge?”
Facebook response to Girlguiding’s announcement of trans-exclusion
Established in 1909 as “The Guide Association,” the organization advertises a history of “incredible commitment to social action,” and states that “as the needs of girls have changed, Girlguiding has listened and evolved too.”
It seems the volunteers have taken Girlguiding’s stated core values to heart.
The demands of the volunteers include that leadership reinstate an inclusion policy that recognizes and affirms trans girls as girls, allowing their participation across all Girlguiding sections. While written in a spirit of constructive dialogue, the petition makes it clear: If these issues are not addressed, they intend—reluctantly but firmly—to resign from their volunteer roles.
