On Monday, the gender revolution took another giant step forward when the Boy Scouts of America reversed its ban on transgender youth. It was only this past December that an eight-year-old transgender boy named Joe Maldonado was kicked out of his New Jersey troop because he didn’t meet the scouts’ eligibility requirements: A birth certificate identifying him as male.
Now, though, parents of transgender young people will only have to check “male” on the application form – affirming the kid’s gender identity. If you think that’s a pretty fast change, I agree: In 2013, the Scouts ended its decades-old prohibition on gay members and only two years later finally allowed openly gay scout leaders.
After the decision was made public, I spoke with a number of current Boy Scouts about its meaning. All of them, like Bo Carlson, an Eagle Scout from Charlotte, North Carolina, were “ecstatic.”
“I definitely think it’s overdue,” said Carlson, 18. “I was in Scouts when they reversed the ban on gay youth and I remember how much that meant to me. Until now, transgender youth has not had the same assurances, confidences that they could do both – come out as trans and work toward Eagle.”
Jasper Davidoff, 17, is a scout from Evanston, Illinois, who has made it to the Life rank, just a step below Eagle; he joined the scouts in sixth grade and was a Cub Scout before that. “I’ve never seen why these groups had to be excluded,” he told me, referring to gay and transgender youth. “I have transgender friends and I know these people are just like me and I don’t see any reason why they should be excluded.”
Twelve-year-old Roberto Shiver of Berkeley, California, who has been a scout for four months now, worries that “some kids in his troop might make fun” of transgender boys. “I think some of the kids in my troop don’t take it as a serious issue, and they should probably be taught that it’s a serious matter and not be ignorant about it.” Yes, he’s 12!
Not surprisingly, some vehemently oppose this policy change. Todd Starnes, host of the radio show Fox News & Commentary, wrote that the Scouts “sacrificed its last vestige of integrity on the altar of political correctness … marking a complete capitulation to the gender and sex revolutionaries.” Starnes noted that the policy change has parents asking “some very pointed questions.” For instance: “(W)ill transgender children be able to share tents and bathrooms in the Great Outdoors with heterosexual boys?”
As a former Cub Scout, I do know this much about camping: Going to the bathroom in the “Great Outdoors” is usually exactly that, which is to say by yourself, behind a tree, with a shovel. Privacy, please! In fact, Carlson, the North Carolina Eagle Scout, argues that “the fear surrounding the policy reversal is based in ignorance. People had similar doubts when the B.S.A. allowed gay scouts, and they turned out to be unjustified.” He’s absolutely correct.
I’ll say this about Starnes’ warnings: Like many, he confuses gender identity (whether you see yourself as male, female or perhaps non-binary) with sexual orientation (gay, straight or bisexual). This is not a matter of political correctness, but science. Justin Paul Wilson, the executive director of Scouts for Equality, which has fought for a discrimination-free Scouting movement, told me, “He has a misunderstanding of what it means to be a transgender boy. A transgender boy is a boy and that’s exactly what the Scouts have affirmed in its decision.”
It’s important to note that Scouting has already been moving away from public-style restrooms and shower facilities – for reasons not directly related to the transgender or gay debates. “Kids are not comfortable with (open showers), period,” said Wilson. Yeah, I remember that feeling when I was a tween.
Still, policy changes do need to come with new educational resources for parents, leaders – and scouts, too. Earlier this week I was reminded just how much fear and, yes, ignorance, still exists about transgender youth when I saw the reader comments on my Washington Post profile of Liz Hadfield, a trans senior at Duke University. “Rspoul” posted, for instance: “You’re mentally defective, that’s all.” “I.Love.Trump” wrote: “What’s with the ‘She’ krap? The proper pronoun is ‘HE.’ HE is a man dressed up to believe he’s a she, but he’s still a man. End of story.”
Hadfield herself received what she characterized as a piece of “hate mail” from an individual who sought out her private email and addressed her by the male name she no longer uses (and which I did not include in my piece). I recall that Donald Trump said during the campaign that he didn’t have time for political correctness. Doesn’t it seem that it takes more effort – and time – to be mean?
What great timing it is that the documentary “Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric” premieres next Monday on the National Geographic channel. A friend of mine who is the mother of a young gender-nonconforming child told me she’ll be watching in anticipation the Couric film will help move the dial on transgender awareness.
“I hope Katie’s mainstream appeal will reach parents and kids who are in the dark about these issues,” she told me. Indeed, Couric highlights the “huge generational divide” on gender issues and interviews scientists, psychologists, activists, authors and real-life families telling their stories with unflinching honesty. (There’s also a special issue of the magazine devoted entirely to gender identity.)
Couric told me that she brings a “respectful curiosity” to the subject, which means she doesn’t know all the answers – even making a stumble or two when it comes to language:
“I can’t think of a better time for people to open their hearts and minds and learn about those who may be different than them. There seems to be a movement to ‘other-ize’ a variety of groups, and diversity seems to have become a dirty word for some.”
Watch her journey. It’s a new one for sure, but with a guide like Couric – a straight, cisgender woman – you won’t get lost.
Image: Reuters
