Male children who believe they are girls will be allowed to join the Girl Guides in the UK, the organisation has announced.
And adults born male who now self-identify as female will be able to become Guide leaders.
But new rules say that parents will not be told whether their daughters will be sharing bedrooms and toilets with transgender girls during trips away, with the advice that it is “best practice” not to do so. Data protection laws in the UK also forbid a Guide leader’s original gender from being disclosed.
In America, transgender children are already able to join the Girl Scouts. Its policy is as follows: “Girl Scouts is proud to be the premiere leadership organization for girls in the country. Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/group in question a top priority. That said, if the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.”
The UK’s new rules say “flexibility and discretion” should be shown to anybody about any potential changes to their role in guiding and “any decisions about how these changes take place should be jointly agreed”.
The rules have been published as part of an updated policy on equality and diversity recently sent to all leaders. An accompanying document states that the Guides “aims to support all girls and young women . . . This is understood in terms of the way a person self-identifies their gender identity — a person’s inner sense of self.” So if a boy “self-identifies” as a girl, he can join his local guide branch without, for example, having to dress as a girl.
The Girl Guides was formed in 1908 in Britain and has about 10 million members worldwide. The Queen is the organisation’s patron.
Julie Bentley, the chief executive of the Guides in the UK, said that the policies complied with the Equality Act 2010 “which makes clear organisations providing single-gender services should treat people according to their acquired gender”.
She said: “In line with our values of inclusion, we welcome any young person who self-identifies as a girl or young woman.”
