The Boy Scouts of America has been shrouded in controversy because of strict rules over what type of members and leaders are eligible to join the historical organization. Since the late 2000s, the Boy Scouts have been criticized for their exclusive membership and rejection of homosexual, atheist and transgender members. After years of protest, the Scouts finally allowed the inclusion of homosexual youths in 2013 and two years later lifted their ban on homosexual Scout leaders.
Last December, The New York Times reported that a young transgender boy was kicked out of his troop because his birth certificate specified him as female. The New Jersey native was deprived of joining this institution of brotherhood because the Boy Scouts didn’t think “identified as male” is good enough.
The Boy Scouts took a progressive step this week. CNN reported on Monday that the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts lifted their ban on transgender children and are now accepting any youth that self-identifies as a boy, no matter what their birth certificates say.
This is truly a historic moment for the Boy Scouts. After heated arguments and controversy over allowing gay members and leaders to have access to the organization, the Boy Scouts have finally come to this ruling four years later. Such progress in such a short amount of time, especially from a historically conservative group, is sending an extremely progressive message to the public in times of heavy discord.
It is a basic human right to allow a person identifying as a certain gender to be a part of a group exclusively made up of that gender. The Boy Scouts and similar organizations should not be able to deny a child’s involvement in their group because their birth certificate says something that differentiates from what they identify as. Many people don’t understand the transgender community and can even be threatened when new rights are given to people who do not label themselves as the sex they were born as, especially when it comes to children. But why should they be punished simply because they were not born as who they are? “What if” situations aren’t a valid enough reason to deny someone rights they are fundamentally entitled to.
This ruling will enable children to become educated on the transgender community earlier in their lives, which will only reflect positively on their actions as they grow older. Normalizing transgender people at a young age will create an entire generation that understands and accepts those within the LGBT community. There are still many adults who think that being transgender is wrong, which needs to end. If these kids grow up surrounded by a community, and socialize within an organization that openly accepts and embraces transgender children, their ideologies will inevitably be more progressive than those of their parents.
Parents do play a part in this. Parents who complain and try to fight this announcement will spread those oppressive thoughts to their children. Kids aren’t born with prejudice but rather develop them from the influence of their elders. They’re impressionable and the thoughts of their parents will show through in their treatment to transgender Scouts. The Boy Scouts, as an interconnected organization for young boys in America, have the opportunity to spread progressive values and is using their status to make their members aware of the image of normal America.
Understanding gender and sexuality is fundamental to a child’s education. It’s a tragedy that kids aren’t encouraged to or given the necessary resources to learn about LGBT community. This leaves many to find out on their own how they want to identify. The Boy Scouts’ lift of this ban is a perfect way to tell people that being transgender is OK, and that being different is also OK. We shouldn’t have to wait until 2017 for this to happen, but we’re glad it did.
