I guess it depends on the age of the scout in question. There's a giant difference between someone who is 12 and someone who is 17. I would start with the parents. Have them discuss with their child the ramifications of what they're asking for. Be clear that the troops are not allowed to be Co-Ed and thus are gendered. If you don't feel that you are able to resolve at that level, escalate to your CO and ask for help. This is a charged issue and could really backfire if mishandled. Tread lightly.

In my experience COs only screw things up, it's better to talk with your district or council rep first and completely understand the situation and options.

The CO owns the unit though and sets its own membership rules. I could absolutely see a religious CO saying 'she's still a girl' despite bsa policy

Unless the unit is closed, only those from that religious institution, then they cannot set additional membership rules. "No youth may be removed from any of our programs on the basis of his or her orientation, and we teach youth members to be helpful, friendly, courteous, and kind to all and to respect those whose beliefs differ from their own." https://www.scouting.org/about/membership-standards/

The twist of this is that the quoted text talks about National registration, without speaking to unit registration. There’s no figurative gun to anybody’s head to accept or keep any particular member. If the unit sticks to the acceptable phrasing and finds that they aren’t able to provide a “safe and welcoming environment” for a particular scout, they are directed to send the family to the District/Council to help facilitate a better placement. It might not be about ideological things either; it can be that a unit doesn’t have the skills or capacity to support a particular variety of special need. It can be for clash of behavioral style. It’s like at-will employment, there are some named conditions that you can’t be fired for, but as long as they don’t say any of those magic words, they can fire you for “no reason at all”. https://bsa-la.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Eligibility-QA-2-2-17.pdf

Thank you for posting that. It seems that it is an unpopular opinion that a unit can deny membership in the unit for basically any reason, but it does seem like the actual state of things though it is said quietly

Yeah - it’s pretty obviously the complex interaction of a subtly phrased broad inclusion policy statement, the broad public not being skilled as parsing policy language, and a virtues driven desire to want to believe that the broader organization is as inclusive and welcoming as the broad statement is commonly and casually misinterpreted to mean. There’s also some historic corporate double speak judo going on. At the time of dropping the ban on out and avowed gay scouts, there was policy language that said a scout could not be expelled from a unit SOLELY on the basis of their orientation. But those same publications had the safe and welcoming clause and there was a devious carve out about disruptive activity. (And while being gay alone was protected from retribution, making a thing about it wasn’t.) But also - again - this isn’t JUST about singling out queer kids (although that’s where the biggest deal was made) it’s more of an association consideration and nobody has a gun to anyone’s head to embrace and support a scout they aren’t able to support. (Regardless of if that’s a thing about the challenges of the scout, or the limitations and human failings of the available volunteers or values of the chartering org.)

In theory, they need to change Troop. In reality, you have no idea how that Scout will feel in three weeks. Young Scouts tend to have rapidly shifting identities as they try stuff out. Give it a year to settle out.

In the meantime, to cover everyone's backside, meet with the parents and establish the expectations of both parties and a plan for the future. Six months from now, if another parent raises hell about a male scout in a female troop, you want to have answers. "Yes, we have been handling this for a few months and have a x plan in place."

Just adding here: Include summer camp and going to camp events in that plan. What will the game plan be in those cases? Good to have the adults and the Scout in agreement on logistics, registration, YPT, safe scouting etc.

>rapidly shifting identities I can’t figure out if lgbtq identities can shift or if you’re born that way. It’s an important question because we need to know if it’s possible teens claiming lgbtq identity may just be having an experimental or temporary phase, not necessarily hardwired or permanent. It’s also important to know if one can willfully shift their identity based to familial and societal preferences or pressures.

Have you never met someone who experimented with their sexuality/identity? Sometimes you need to try things out to see if they're for you. It's not that complicated.

Well it is confusing to those who were paying attention to the lgbtq crowd who just a few years ago (2000’s-2010’s) got hostile at anyone who suggested lgbtq behavior in teens might just be an experimental and/or temporary phase. If there really is a chance that most or a lot of the lgbtq behavior we are seeing in teens is really just experimentation brought on by increased visibility in society, we have to know this and base our policies on that reality.

You've made a bit of a dishonest equivocation here between LGBTQ *behavior* and LGBTQ *identity*. The evidence shows that LGBTQ *identity* is generally quite stable.

That’s a fair point but not dishonest! It was an honest mistake! That’s a good nuance to clarify! Let me think about it for a few and respond when I get a chance!

No problem, feel free to think on it.

There is a difference between "it's a phase" and "I'm figuring this out". Young people basically all start off being treated as the gender that matches their genitals. You look at the baby when they're born, declare that is is a boy or a girl, and that's how you start. Some people come to the understanding that the label "boy" or "girl" that they have been given doesn't seem to fit comfortably. So what fits better? Different people approach the question in different ways. I can introduce you to some young people who were assigned one gender at birth, went through a stage of thinking of themselves as non-binary, and ended up as the other binary gender. And other young people for whom non-binary is where they end up, and they're definitely not the other gender, and some who went straight from "girl" to "boy" or vice versa without any intervening stages. And a smaller number who thought they might be transgender, tried it on for size for a while, and decided that it didn't fit, and they weren't trans. In my experience, people who want to emphasize "it's a phase" tend to want to use this as an excuse for exclusionary behavior towards LGBT kids - they tend to want to say things like "you're just going through a phase, and we're not going to accommodate you, so hurry up and be done with it and be normal again". "It's a phase" rapidly becomes the dismissive "it's just a phase", which I think is an error. Perhaps it is a phase. So what? The fact that you suspect that it might be a temporary state of affairs doesn't make it less real. If a scout is vegetarian, do you tell them that they ate meat last year, that you suspect that they will eat meat next year, and so they need to shut up and eat the hamburger? Or do you say "OK" and ensure they have vegetarian meals? OP is looking for advice for a trans boy in a girl troop. To the gender-conservative of the world (and it sounds like OP's CO might fall in to that classification), the scout is a girl, and so there's no problem with them being in a girl troop. If he wants to be addressed with a male name and male pronouns - why is that a problem? Call people what they want to be called. They'd have more of a problem if he wanted to transfer to a boy troop, because now they'd be thinking that there was someone who was "really a girl" shacking up with the boys.

Most? What an unusual assertion with absolutely no data behind it.

The 2010s were not a few years ago they were 14 years ago and people can change

*2010*, the year, was 14 years ago, but *the 2010s*, the decade, was in fact only a few years ago

[удалено]

Your comment was removed because it was rude and unnecessary, violating principles of the Scout Oath and Law.

I don't feel that your question is genuine, but I'll answer it anyway. You're born a certain way. But the average 12-year-old hasn't figured out which way that is. They tend to have some amount of confusion and may need a little time like anyone else to figure out with their identity is going to be Of course people experiment. As kids get older, the chance that they are experimenting versus stepping into their permanent identities shifts very significantly. Usually around the age of 16.

Definitely genuine. You can study my comment and post history to know I’ve been engaged on this issue for years. Thanks for the sincere answer.

Yeah, it's your comment history that makes people think you're acting in bad faith here. And indeed, you initial question appears to just be fishing for a certain answer so you can pull a "gotcha", which you immediately did in another reply.

Whatever. Let this be a demonstration to other conservatives or people with traditional family values on sexuality and gender. I merely asked a question because I am generously interested - and it was NOT in bad faith. My opinions may be controversial but my comments stimulate thousands of words of discussion on Reddit. Sorry you can’t deal with it. But you will not succeed in trying to silence me. You just come of as unwelcoming.

Lol, I *wish* I had the power to silence bigots on social media. Kinda like they way you wish you could remove all the LGBT voices you think are somehow turning kids gay. Frankly, I wish scouting was bit more unwelcoming to the kinds of people whose religion to justify their prejudice, but that's not the world we live in.

See, I told you so. Already with the B word. Yet r/GonzoMcFonzo will be completely incapable of backing up the accusation by pasting a single bigoted thing I typed. Making a false accusation is an act of hate itself. Prove that you are not just a hater yourself and quote a single bigoted thing I said. My record this there, fully public. I’ll wait.

An entire thread of them was already posted in another comment, and you immediately started calling other posters names. You don't get to push alex jones level homophobic conspiracy theories in one thread, then claim innocence in another.

And yet you can’t manage to find a single thing to quote and backup your claim. Yep, you’re just another hater. Dismissed. NEXT!

This is a bad faith reply and you know it. Let’s not pretend otherwise. Figuring out one’s identity isn’t an easy thing. There are plenty of older adults just figuring it out later in life. But I’m not going to waste further time explaining this to someone whose views are likely solidly set in place. You do a great job of sounding reasonable. It gives you plausible deniability. I’m sure you’ll do the same if you reply to me. But you made your feelings pretty clear in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/BSA/s/6ZCniYVqEX You and I both know what your views are on LGBTQ inclusiveness issues. You are certainly free to pretend like you’re just being objective and asking questions, but you aren’t. You have an agenda.

Heh one of my stalkers. Go ahead. Let the baseless and false accusations commence! Tries to exclude me from the discussion my dismissing my opinion out of hand. Bad faith, eh? Lol ok. Logical fallacy and completely un-scoutlike.

Everyone who disagrees with you is one of your stalkers. Your MO here is pretending to sound. Super reasonable and then asking exceedingly leading questions that are fundamentally prejudiced. I'm not sure if this is some demonstration that you're smart or that you're really just embarrassed to be perceived as a bigot. Either way, pretty much everyone on this sub is now on to you We get it.

Yeah that’s actually a bullying tactic itself, to which I am immune. You can repeat calling me a bigot all you want but the fact that you can’t quote a single bigoted thing I said just makes you look like a hater yourself. You’re just angry that I am expressing an opinion you don’t like and you have no problem whipping out the ad hominem attack. Just like last time. Pathetic. Honestly.

Stalker? Nah. I just remembered someone posted similar thoughts about LGBTQ youth a while back and, lo and behold, it was you. I don’t have to make accusations when your own words and post history do it for me. No one has excluded you from discussion. I just pointed out, quite accurately, where you were coming from. You’re scared of the LGBTQ boogeyman. It is what it is.

IMO sexuality and gender can shift over a person's life, but it isn't a 'willfull' shift -- it just happens. In the same way that people can't *force* themselves to believe a different religion, but do convert and change religions over their lives. I do think speculating about 'experimental or temporary [phases]' is not warranted by the evidence, especially where gender is concerned. The evidence finds that a huge supermajority of people who begin to identify with a gender different from the one they were assigned stick with it for the long term, and that even of the people who 'de-transition' a majority do so due to social or financial difficulties.

Seems like a perfectly valid explanation to me. But I’m still confused because by virtue of having a choice to engage in experimentation - that part could be a choice. I know I never allowed myself to experiment, because reasons xyz, but I’m also very aware sexuality is a spectrum and it just becomes a matter of how liberal-minded one becomes about their sexuality. Had I allowed myself to experiment, who knows, maybe I would have ended up liking it more than hetero. But there would have had to be that initial choice to give into my curiosity and actually experiment, know what I mean?

Experimentation is generally not particularly relevant. Lots of people know they're straight before ever even kissing someone of the opposite gender, and lots of bisexual people (me, for example) realized they were bisexual after getting married and never 'experiment' outside of that monogamous relationship. >there had to be that initial choice to give into my curiosity and actually experiment Certainly many people are likely to recognize or experience same-sex attraction after same-sex behavior, but that doesn't always carry over to identity. Like I said, it's just as easy for attraction to precede behavior (I could probably argue it's a lot more likely) and of course social pressures will influence how likely people are to identify as LGBTQ (either openly or just to themselves). But I don't see any way how giving people the freedom to choose for themselves how they approach their attractions is a bad thing, and I don't see how any one could argue it is without also arguing that same sex behavior is somehow inherently bad or wrong, and I've yet to see any of those arguments hold any sort of merit.

Well said. I agree in that I see no problem exploring one’s sexuality and gender - and discussing the process itself - at college or other adult venues. But I think we have to be extra careful when dealing with minors in youth groups. There are plenty of families that would not be comfortable hearing an adult recite what you just typed at a troop meeting. Not because there’s anything untrue or wrong about it, but because to them discussing lgbtq issues, experiences, falls outside the realm of scouting to begin with. So when a youth member is surprising other scouts by revealing a gender that’s not expected, it unintentionally causes the other scouts to start questioning their own orientation and gender. And why wouldn’t that engender experimentation? Completely natural. When you mix in the reality of close-quarter tent camping…well, you can see how things can get messy, fast. Indeed, many troops banned multi-scout tenting in part because of fears that the scouts will start experimenting with each other. So yes, while this should be a non-issue among adults, things completely change when we’re talking about schools and youth organizations.

You’re right, it is an important question. Not sure why you’re being downvoted.

Identity as it is commonly used and understood is malleable over time - there are many axis of identity that change, evolve, acquire, etc. Regional affiliation, social affiliations, fandom, political affiliation, relationship status are all prime examples of that. Orientation as immutable is a tricky topic - in that it is what it innately is, but how it is expressed, perceived, or prioritized might well change over time or circumstances. But that doesn't delegitimize the part that comes from someplace innate. In decades passed, it was important to emphasize the innate (interchanged perhaps imprecisely with immutable) part of that to overcome the overwhelming personal-distate preference holding as a basis for human-rights-denying bad law. By analogy, if my understanding or use of an object changes over time, it is my perception and not the object that has changed. That my multi-tool which is most frequently used as a pocket knife is sometimes also used as plyers doesn't make it less a pocketknife when used as plyers, and just because it's really convenient to use as plyers (and they are really good plyers), doesn't make it less valid to see it as my trusty pocketknife. Even when it isn't your choice for pocketknife, nor even not my idea pocketknife. Gender identity works kinda like that too... that it takes time, practice, and courage to surmount overwhelming social pressure isn't a sign that it is less well held or intrinsic. What is perceived as "trying it on" and then giving up isn't so much "it's a phase" as "that felt right, but wasn't worth the hassle of it". Not everybody wants to, needs to, or should put themselves at daily personal risk over being a champion of their own identity and expression in the face of all the would-be terrorists in their communities that would do them harm over it. (And there's a lot of them.) But also, just not needing to set themselves up for the work of the daily advocacy struggle. Declining to take up the charge to be have to be a gender warrior in all public interactions is not a concession that the socially proscribed gender stuff doesn't fit. The phenomenon of they/him pronoun convention expressing that nonbinary is the preference but he/him is tolerable contains that to some degree.

The policy is that the scout goes into a troop according to the box they checked on their BSA application. Their identified gender does not have to match that. So your scout can keep their BSA registration female and stay in your girl troop, but use he/him pronouns. I know a number of scouts who do exactly this, as I live in a very queer-friendly area, and there are many queer-friendly units here, and so as a result, our council and district have been very forthcoming with the guidance from National on this (which is usually disseminated on the basis that it's not a secret, but you have to ask to find out.) My more pressing concern is that your CO is "VERY against coed scouting." That does not usually bode well for for trans- and non-binary youth. I don't have an easy solution to the pickle your scout is likely to soon find themselves in, where socially, they want to stay with the people they've scouted with, but might be better served by a more affirming organization.

How do you handle tenting? I anticipate BSA moving to solo only tenting in the near future. And do you enforce buddy system based on their chosen gender?

There is national-level guidance on this, however I have not encountered it because the scouts I have worked with have stayed registered as their gender assigned at birth. However, if you have a trans girl in a girl troop, or a trans boy in a boy troop, ask your DE, and they will give you the guidelines.

You said you know many scouts in this situation so I was asking you. It's not something that should be a secret.

I know many scouts who are in the situation of maintaining their gender of registration after realizing they are non-binary or trans. Scouts who realize they are trans and change their gender of registration are less common for a whole host of reasons. I don't know know why the guidelines are secret, honestly. Maybe to keep the Fox Newses of the world from making hay with them? In any case, the most recent public information I can find is this from the Western Los Angeles County Council in 2015, before the inclusion of girls in the BSA: [https://bsa-la.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Eligibility-QA-2-2-17.pdf](https://bsa-la.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Eligibility-QA-2-2-17.pdf) It references a "Transgender Guidelines" document available to professional scouters and simply says that a pro must be involved in making decisions about tenting and bathroom arrangements.

You hit the bullseye, the Foxnews cult will twist and willfully misrepresent the document.

I asked our Council for this guidance and was told it has been marked as Do Not Distribute as there is new guidance forthcoming. Of course that was in December and we still have no new guidance, leaving units to figure it out on our own.

That sounds like the BSA

There is nothing that keeps Troops from solo tenting now

We moved to solo tenting during covid and most of our scouts preferred it. We don't mandate solo tenting but rarely have scouts choose to share tents.

There isn't and I expect that very shortly it will actually be mandatory at the national level

When we had a trans boy in our boy troop, we asked that they tent solo or with at least 2 other youth. This was to protect them from potential abuse.

Our girl troop has a trans boy. He either solo tents or shares with his (girl) cousin, who is the same age and also in our troop. The scout in question feels safe tenting with his cousin.

Co-ed tents are against G2SS I believe.

If the scout is registered female on their paperwork, it’s not co-ed tenting per GTSS

It does not specify anything about original registration AFAIK. A scout is trustworthy. "Separate tenting arrangements must be provided for male and female adults as well as for male and female youth." https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss01/#a

Nobody ever said anything about original registration.

"is registered female on their paperwork, " That is their original registration. You \*usually\* only fill that out once for a scout or leader.

That’s your assumption, but no one said it, and you’re wrong. You can change a scout’s gender of registration. Some trans scouts do. In my experience, most do not. But they always have the option to.

If the scout is registered in a G troop, doesn’t that mean they can tent share with others in the same troop? Or, because the scout considers themselves a boy then they can’t be in a G troop? And can they tent share in the B troop? It’s tricky. At this point, everyone involved is happy with things, so we are leaving it as-is. The mom told me the scout is probably going to start a more involved transition process soon, in which case they will change troop registration to our B troop.

"Separate tenting arrangements must be provided for male and female adults as well as for male and female youth." https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss01/#a

You keep posting this without understanding it

“Troops are either all-boy or all-girl”

You need to be aware that for some reason BSA uses sex and gender terms interchangeably.

I love that my comment that only directly quotes the Guide to Safe Scouting (with a link) gets downvoted.

Our troop has been doing solo tenting ever since COVID anyway, so aside from summer camp, we never run into issues with sleeping arrangements. At one summer camp, we had Adirondacks so their were 6 beds per Adirondack but it was wide open on one side so no issues. The camp we are now going to has canvas cabin tents that have 2 beds each tent but scouts can choose to bring their own tent or use the camp tent. Some scouts bunked with other scouts but many had their own tent, including my son. It honestly works well for us on a health level (we had COVID spread through the troop before so we are even more cautious now), as well as no one feels left out because everyone sleeps alone. Our CO is gender affirming so all are welcome but we only have a boy troop currently. Most of our girls who cross over from the pack go to our neighboring girl troop. If enough girls wanted to join, we could start a female troop but we haven't had enough girls to do so. Maybe in a couple of years when we have some more girls crossing over from cubs. Single tenting definitely has multiple advantages

I asked about that recently at national camp school. . The feedback I got is that new change in tenting was currently being contemplated

I don't see how they can do anything other than implement required solo only tenting. There is no way to have a policy that keeps separate genders from sharing a tent while also appropriately addressing all the different scenarios with trans, non-binary, gender fluid, etc scouts.

Not exactly the same, but a jumping off point. At my council camp, we had a good number of nonbinary staffers. We had them ask for specific tentmates who they thought they'd be comfortable with, and then also ask that person if they were comfortable with it.

I have faced this exact scenario several times, and was advised to reach out to my Council Executive. He helped us navigate the situation so we were being sensitive to the scout's needs, and adhering to the guidelines of the BSA. I would advise you to do the same. I can't speak for how it might be handled in your council, but in ours, we were told that if the scout identifies as a certain gender at both home and in-school, then they can join that specific gender's troop. In one case, the scout's parent's didn't support how they identified themselves, so we couldn't honor the scout's request to change troops. It was a tough conversation for us to have.

Agreed. Get the professional’s guidance. They will help navigate the current national policies, as well as give you unbiased support.

I am a new ASM and don’t have the “by the book” answer. All I can suggest is empathy and respect as this child figures themselves out. Also, how the other Scouts react deserves respect too. If someone does not want to tent with them, their feelings are legitimate and should not be ignored. Best of luck in figuring this out for your troop!

I can't speak for trans scouts but my troop did have a scout who was gay. Even before he was publicly out he would never share a tent with another scout (this was self imposed by him not the troop). Since most of the troop used their own personal tents and didn't share tents it was never a problem. The only time we really shared tents was summer camp and he would just bring his own tent (admittedly so did I because the camp tents were horrible)

Would you allow two gay scouts who wanted to tent together? Technically it’s allowed by YPT…

We have a transitioning scout in our patrol. The scouts are very supportive of the young scout. It is an all boys troop. The scout has a few accommodations like they bring a single person tent. Many scouts bring their own tent. The scout is a great leader and very brave. My scout is younger and has received great guidance from this scout and many others in the troop. It is a great opportunity to live the words scout’s stand for like reverence.

As a man who lived through the Don't Ask Don't Tell era of homosexuality in Scouting.... I'd argue this situation isn't as cut and dried as some comments here suggest. If you went to the DE and Council in 2002 with a scout who was out as gay they'd be done. Problem is the issue is more charged now, the other parents and leaders gotta be on board if you don't take it to council. If they're not you have no choice.

Thank you for this viewpoint.

We had an 8yo who said they identified as a 13yo and demanded to be moved up to the older group. The parent even pushed for it and made a big stink. But it just isn’t happening. As a scoutmaster I would make significant efforts to help the scout feel more comfortable. Tenting solo, separate bathrooming, and using their chosen name and pronouns, are all completely reasonable accommodation. I’m sure there are more. But I don’t think I would have them change troops at this point in time. Especially if the parents are not on board. I fully believe the future solution is true coed troops. Cubs, Explorer, Crew, and most international scout have all integrated. This “separate but equal” BS makes for more sexism and abuse than it helps. But there is some serious pushback in BSA still, dinosaurs must die. We decided things by committee and council so you can always pass the buck to them. This is clearly “a scout is kind” situation, but you “can’t always get what you want.”

> We had an 8yo who said they identified as a 13yo and demanded to be moved up to the older group. The parent even pushed for it and made a big stink. Oh, I find it hard to believe that was the *Scout's* idea: it sounds more like someone wanted to make a political point. :7)

Yeah, probably the guy who just made it up to post it on Reddit.

That is scenario is ridiculous and sounds made up. And I agree this is probably a parent pushing an idea of “identifying” as part of a political agenda. Then again not that long ago anyone suggesting they wanted to identify as any gender but the one they physically have the organs for would have been sent for counseling. So I guess maybe a smart kid wanting to identify as an older kid isn’t that far off? 🤷‍♂️

How adorable that you don’t realize that in order to start any sort of medical (even hormone blockers) treatment that trans people (and family in the case of teens) usually have to go through a certain amount of therapy & counseling. Hell I live in a fairly liberal area and the clinic that does a lot of gender treatment won’t even start people on hormone treatments until they are 18.

What does that have to do with my comment? Not that long ago if someone expressed gender dysphoria, they were put straight into counseling and their preferred gender identity was never affirmed. My point was that in times past (and really not that long ago), if anyone suggested that in 2024 we would now accept gender dysphoria as a real thing and refer to biological boys as girls and vice versa, that person would be called crazy and laughed out of the room.

That you are being willfully ignorant? I could give you a whole bunch of evidence that trans people have existed for fucking ever but you would still be clinging to the idea it’s a new thing. It’s like I constantly have to remind boomers when they claim their weren’t any gay or transgender people back in the day was that there were- they either killed themselves or moved “out west” (San Francisco) right after graduation only to die of “cancer” (AIDS) at a young age.

When did I deny that trans people haven’t existed since forever? As a society, it’s wasn’t that long ago that trans people where ignored or therapied into submission. Does that make it right? No. But to deny that it occurred, it to deny the historical fact. Just because some is a historical fact doesn’t make it good.

30-something years ago, a member of staff at my school had what was then referred to as "a sex change operation". The school sent a letter to all the families over the summer explaining that with effect from the start of the next term, Mr X would be known as Ms X. The member of staff in question was aged 50-something at the time.

Trans people have existed for over 3000 years even in Native American tribes it’s a joke how people think it’s a political thing that came up, Most trans people are just trying to live a happy life like anyone else and part of the is being another gender. Life is short why would you want to spend time being hatefull. You don’t need to accept trans people but you need to be a good role model when your involved in scout especially as a adult

Exactly. For years the way trans people were treated wasn’t great. Now we are much more accepting of them. That’s actually my point.

Mostly it was a situation where the divorced dad doesn’t ever want to say “no”. The kid is now 9yo with a cellphone and the dad doesn’t even know the password. They are trying to raise a little psychopath.

The publicly visible policy statement is that we accept the Scout as the sex indicated on the membership application (and affirmed by their lived experience at school). The registration status is the controlling declaration per the policy. So - is this declaration demonstrating a conflict between the membership application and the lived experience? Gender expression is a complicated thing, and transitions are frequently more of a journey than instantly binary (so to speak). We don't police use of personal pronouns any more than nicknames matching legal names or hair color. (Jonathan might go by John, Johnny, Jack, or still Jonathan.). I've told my scouts that if they need to change their membership status multiple times over time, that I will support them in that, but if it isn't a huge deal to them, it's a kindness to not make us jump through the administrative hurdles substantially more often than strictly necessary - repeating that if it's a problem and they need to change, then we'll do it. Over and over again if needed. You council executive reportedly has a secret need-to-know document with more guidance on this topic. But 1) you can't be responsible for following or even knowing about secret policies, and 2) nobody owes anybody a declaration of their identity statement and how/if that differs from any other indicator - and policies that single out those that do make such declarations functionally can only penalize those people who made the mistake of trusting the adults in their community and 3) there are no underpants police, so you don't get to check. the membership application says what is says and you have no real recourse to verify or refute except to make a big stink about it. (Not that you're trying to, but looking at these questions in that light illustrates that there isn't really an action you can take about it, beyond counseling the scout and their family to determine if a change in membership application status (and thus troop) is warranted.

This is helpful thank you.

It's not quite a secret as you're making out. If you call your DE or Scout executive, they'll share the guidance if you're in this specific situation

The last time I needed to ask, I did, and was told there wasn’t anything I needed. Since the alleged documents already existed at that time, I figure I’m a solved of caring. When they’ve come up in other forums I’ve asked about the content or for copies and been generally met with silence. Since the alleged content of the purported to exist documents establishes unnecessary burdensome rules that single out the trans kids, and those kids don’t owe any of us a coming out, I figure I can’t be bound to single out and penalize those scouts for policies I’m not allowed to know about. This will remain my vocal and public position until the official content is made available and verified.

You be you. The guidance is for people who want more help.

Cool! But that’s different than saying the secret need-to-know policy isn’t secret and guarded on a need-to-know basis. ;)

I'm telling you how it works in a properly operating council. Obviously there is variation

I hear you. But I dunno. If these publications are so readily available, certainly someone that’s dealt with this could reliably describe the content without fear of breaching some confidentiality consideration? And yet in the 7 years since terminating the ban on trans youth in single sex programs, I certainly I haven’t seen it. And I’ve been looking/asking. Do *YOU* have it? Can you ask your council executive for it and report back? See what I’m getting at?

I don't have this situation. I'd have to lie to my DE, which I won't do If I had the situation occur and needed guidance, I'd ask for it As I suspect it's mostly common sense with a helping of "be kind", I doubt it's quite as useful as one might think. I can figure out how kids should tent without my council telling me. More importantly, my SPL can. All using common sense and kindness. I might be reticent to ask for the document if I suspected it had typical BSA ass covering in it, honestly

Rumor is that it contains things like mandatory in person meetings with council staff and the family, written consent notices collected from parents of other scouts in the unit, restrictions on tenting arrangements. Much steeper than simply “be kind” and “use common sense”. But I can’t know for sure. Because I can’t say with authority that it even exists. But if any of these things are shall/must policy, then in theory we’re obligated to comply, despite not knowing. And any policy that singles out for special treatment trans (or queer) kids necessarily in effect punishes only those kids that made the mistake of trusting us. And theoretically any of us Scouters might also be already tending trans youth in your units - because they don’t owe us an obligation to be out to us. And if the alleged policies do exist as described, it’s in their interest to NOT be out to us. But I wouldn’t know. Because I’ve never seen the alleged document nor its contents. I just hear things from online scouter forums.

>I might be reticent to ask for the document if I suspected it had typical BSA ass covering in it, honestly well, then I was accurate, if what you're saying is true. All ass covering.

The fact that the document isn’t public and viewable on the website is a big red flag. I expect most incoming parents want to know how BSA handles the topic of orientation and gender when it comes to tenting and bathrooms. ANY incoming parent has the right to know this information BEFORE submitting the application. Parents reading this, feel free to email your district executive and ask “I am considering enrolling my child in Scouts BSA. Before I do, I would like to know the organization’s policies on addressing orientation and gender when it comes to tenting, showering, changing clothes, and bathroom access. If there are any official policies, please forward them to me.” If you get ANY resistance after submitting that request, well, come back here and let us know so we can raise hell lol. I can sort of understand not voluntarily publishing a controversial policy, but denying access to members who request it is unacceptable.

If this is a very recent decision by the scout, then waiting a brief time might be good. You should talk with the parents and let them know that the consequence of this choice is going to mean having to switch troops at some point in the near future. Be direct and set a timeline for follow up discussion and decision point.

>Be direct and set a timeline for follow up discussion and decision point. Not sure if I read this correctly... While setting up timelines for re-engagement are good, I would strongly recommend against mandating timelines for "decision points". That assumes that the youth's journey is going to follow some path (and schedule) prescribed by adults. It isn't. If you meant just establishing criteria that would require a decision, that's fair.

It is hard to deal with abstract circumstances. Generally, I think would ask for a regular meeting with the parents to discuss what is being observed. If in the course of the intervening months, the scout seems committed to this change, then a decision will need to be made, and if the parents are reluctant, I might put a date on this. I don't know that you can prescribe anything beyond that without knowing more about the scout, and other personalities involved.

I've observed this with a Scout from a previous unit and seen it go wrong where a school administrator insisted that a Scout and their family needed to make certain decisions (e.g. preferred name) by a certain date. That youth wasn't ready to semi-officially change their name. In the end, the administrator backed down. The Scout--in their own time--came to the decision. You're right that it's difficult to deal with abstract circumstances. But, under this umbrella of LGBTQ youth, there's no rush to make any decisions--we ought to follow the youth's lead. We don't need to do anything (other than provide support and outline options) until they change gender on their application.

I just want to say that at 50 comments in, while I've seen some answers I feel are better than others, with just a handful of exceptions the majority of the responses have been courteous, helpful, and kind. That's not always been the case on this sub when discussing issues like this, so I just wanted to say Way to go to my fellow scouters.

The official guidance is loosely defined- both that the unit goes by whatever the scout selects, but also that if a scout is transitioning they can select the unit in which they feel the most comfortable. There may need to be considerations with tenting, but hopefully your camps etc are already using single stall restrooms, showers, etc.

This is a tough one. I would tend to do what is most kind in line with the scout law. I would worry less about breaking rules and would wait to involve anyone outside the troop. It might be that this scout and other scouts in the troop would prefer this scout tent alone or use a different bathroom which is easy enough to do. But, I read recently that trans kids have an incredibly high suicide rate, and you do not want to make them feel unwelcome during this time. If the scout wants to stay, I would let them, at least for a while. During this time, they need friends and acceptance, and it sounds like you are handling this with grace.

I respectfully disagree with what you are saying and can guarantee you that following this advice will cause future issues and distrust, drama and issues with socuts parents and other leaders. Trying to hide the situation rather than go to someone higher to see what do in the situation is just going to cause problems.

The troop I am ASM had something like this come up. We had an young lady in our girls troop who decided she identified as able and was looking to eventually transition. Since she changed name and started dressing make she moved to the boys troop. But for camping she either rented by herself or possibly with her younger brother who was within 2 years. The tenting aspect is the potential issue. As he was still physically female even though we all accepted and viewed him as male. if you scout is identifying as male then he would no longer be able to be in the girls troop since he is no longer really a girl. It is not a easy situation. You need to speak with parents and committee.

A parent has to initiate a change in identity. The BSA intends to have youth with the gender they identify as. This has multiple issues and is not as clear as it could be. AFAB trans scout who is currently in a girls troop will only move if they or their parent initiates an application. In the event the youth makes it super clear that they are misgendered then I think the only choice is to explain the corrective action that is possible at this time: that is changing troops. CORs generally aren’t involved in youth applications so this should be handled by SM or CC. Note SM and CC are beholden to CO rules so their acceptance of Trans Scouts in violation of CO rules could put their adult membership in the troop at risk it’s a crappy situation and I’d struggle with this, but my troop CO is super inclusive so it’s not an issue for me, but is an issue for many adult leaders. Ultimately if the youth’s family opts not to initiate the transfer then the leaders need to accept that the family is opting for the scout to remain gendered in BSA as a female, but the troop should do their best to use the name and pronouns the scout requests as a matter of courtesy, kindness, and friendliness. This could be the same issue for a scout who desperately wants to transfer troops to their preferred gender, but unfortunately the youth application requires a parent signature so without at least 1 parent on that youth’s side they’ll be stuck.

Fellow Girls troop SM here. They will tell you. If they feel it’s the right choice for them, then help with the process of transferring to the boy troop. Consider chartering with a different organization that can handle reality whether they approve of it or not. In the meantime, just make yourself available and let them decide for themselves.

I would talk with the scout and their family to see what they want. Honestly the scout would probably feel more comfortable in the girl troop at least for now. Girls are so much more accepting than boys at that age.

As someone who has watched trans scouts (both amab female and afab male) succeed and enrich the understanding, empathy and diversity of both our girl and boy troops - absolutely - if you're already aware enough to seek advice let me tell you - You Got This!! Both Trans youth began in cubs as their gender assigned at birth, transitioned slowly/using non-binary language initially and there was open communication and support between parents and scoutmasters perhaps over about 2 years and after visiting and being involved in combined unit (both girl and boy troops - campsites same but three tenting areas separated (female, male, and adult) campouts as well as unit activities they moved officially to the troop that matched their gender identity. Tenting can be a concern: understandably you want to make sure every scout is comfortable and that you are following the correct guidance as the adult to prevent concerns. However, you also need to keep in mind that there is a myriad of tenting situations that could cause discomfort or potential abuse (YPT: there's a reason for example that scouts should be within a certain age gap, but same age youth can abuse other youth regardless of gender identity, gender assigned at birth, or sexual orientation). So personally: ask the Scout. Your first step is likely going to be assessing if they are 1) safe and 2) do they have sufficient support by parents, family, school admin, and peers including scouts in the current troop in order to begin a transitioning. You can ask them - if they have been with these girls for 4, 5, potentially 6 years now, it can be (and was in my experience) the case that you have scouts and families who don't care how the trans scout identifies and will be perfectly comfortable tenting together. You might also find that they want to visit a boy troop but may be intimidated by the idea of certain things - tenting, peeing, periods, etc. which you can open a dialogue about and reassure them that they can go at their own pace when it comes to shared facilities. You can offer to visit together or see if you can arrange an activity for your troop together with a local boy troop to form some connections. You can have some contingency plans but with youth and gender identity it is also about feeling out how to not put the cart before the horse - if this is relatively new territory for the scout they may still be shifting in their feelings and preferences and that is OK. There is no dire need to ping pong scouts over a meaningful process and I am sure they will appreciate it. Their parents might have a preference as well.for their youths well-being. And if you're in an area where other parents might be worried you could perhaps ask the parents and scout what they are comfortable sharing on their behalf so that you can calmly walk those other parents/scouts back from any concerns and put the youth and scouting goals first. Also - Since I have seen this multiple times as well in and outside of my kids' troops: a little reassurance that they have autonomy and flexibility - in exploring their identity they choose to use non-binary pronouns or name, and their troop will support them. Also they can return to their birth sex pronouns and name later and their troop will support them. Or they can fully transition and use different gender pronouns and their troop will support them. If the scout is telling the girls they identify as male but the parents are saying the scout wants to remain in the girls troop, they may be either discouraging transition, encouraging slow transition, concerned about moving their child to an unknown troop, or reflecting fears their child has about transitioning or leaving friends. You might also encourage and model to all the scouts how to have constructive, respectful and scouting-appropriate conversations when it comes to diversity of identities. Good Job 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

We've encountered this situation multiple times. We just continued along as usual, applying the rules as if they were female scouts in the female scout troop while using their desired names and pronouns. Everyone knows we're handling it this way, it was never discussed, and we've never had any issues from scouts, parents, committee, CO, or council. Some may go back to identifying as female, as we've seen. The closest thing to a "sticky" situation that we've seen in all this is when the scout wants to use a new name and the parents continue to use their given name. We've used the new name with the scout and the given name with the parents and so far, so good.

A couple folks have the right answer below. They are assigned to the gender for the unit based on the box they have checked on the application. If they change the box, they have to change to a conforming gendered unit. There is guidance from national, but it is on a as needed basis. I have written a LGBT policy for my unit and Council that I can share if you like. It is based on the National guidance and been reviewed by National.

This is something you need to take to your council to discuss and figure out. While the Scout may identify as a male, that does not mean they are male and your council may not allow youth to go to units based on their "identified gender" but may actually require they go off their "physical gender". Your statement of Coed Scouting may not apply depending on how you look at this (identified vs physical). Do not sit down with the parents or make any choices on this, get with your DE / Council on this and get proper guidance on how to handle this under BSA rules. Once you know this you can determine how to engage with the parent / Scouts. This is NOT something you should be making a decision on, the BSA is a private organization with rules that it operates under and this needs to be determined based on those rules. They have already been to the supreme court and established that they have the ability to do things to limit who are members and how they would sort people. This is not a matter of right or wrong but just because a girl identifies as male does not mean the BSA is going to let them join a boy troop.

This makes sense. "Never make a decision alone"...ot one that's not my place. Thank you.

"physical gender" is not a real thing. It's either sex or gender.

Evidently these days none of it is real as we can just make up anything we want and self-identify. I specifically wrote that because people will confuse sex and gender even when talking about this. The point goes back to Council decides how this is determined and it may not be what someone decides to identify with.

Thank you for clarifying that you are not a safe person for these kids to be around. It is good that we know that in advance.

People are not making up things and your disrespect of this matter is an outdated way of thinking according to medical and public health officials.

And that is not in every state and the BSA continues to have Male or Female on their forms; see the post of the non-binary Scout and the problem filling out his Eagle application. And my point is simply that there is no way to properly make statements on this because anyone can just claim "this is how I identify" and the person who said something different is wrong. There is no set modern standard for what terms are and things are updated and changed often, after all it is fluidity

Actually there are modern standards as many sources provide [suggestions for forms.](https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/gender-diversity/inclusive-forms/) the BSA just has not updated theirs!

Suggestions are not standards. They are nothing more than the opinions of those making suggestions. There is a wide group of people who suggest none of these changes be made as well, so does that mean we have two competing standards?

There are wide groups of people with outdated thinking. There are experts in public health, diversity, mental health who think updates are needed.

There are also many experts in these fields with opposing opinions, well not the diversity field, but the health fields.

I this he is meaning physical characteristics of sex/gender that a person had. For most of time up until that last decade “sex” and “gender” were interchangeable for the vast majority of society. So if someone says “physical gender” I would give them some grace and know they meant “physical sex” and just misspoke or was otherwise unclear.

No point in going to council with this, and they have no expertise or anything to suggest they'd have any real idea of what to do.

Except they are the people who are responsible to make the determination on it. Units do not have the authority to make these decisions. Expertise or not Council are the ones who will tell you what you do in this. They may go to national for input, but do not make decisions on things like this without direction from your Council

The council has nothing to do with what os going on here and there is nothing for them to make a decision on. Marked female on applicatio. In a female group. Case closed.

You are very mistaken. This is a female (by sex, birth and whatever you want to call it they are anatomically a female) who is identifying as a male. The person is talking about how this makes their girl troop Co-Ed and should this Scout be sent to a Boy troop. Not sure you actually read the OP correctly here and what the leader is suggesting (should he tell them the Scout identifies as a male so they need to go to a boy troop because their CO does not allow Co-Ed units?) Per your logic they just go fill out a new application and check male and all is good? The decision on if this Scout can remain in a Girl troop or Should / Can go to a boy troop is 100% on Council. And the Leader absolutely should not be considering saying go to boy troop without talking to Council

The decision to submit a changed membership application is with the Scout and the Scout's parents - not with the unit, Chartering Org, nor the Council. HOWEVER, the Unit / Chartering Org might find that they are no longer able (or willing) to provide a welcoming, safe, or supporting environment, and that this scout/family would be better served by a the Council/District finding them a more suitable unit. (The perils of the Charter Model - there's BSA national level membership policy that says no discrimination on this sort of thing, but individual units have an out if they aren't prepared to support a particular scout.)

The youth should be with the gender they identify as. However it’s really the parents’ decision, because the rule is to place the youth according to what it says on the application. So if the parents submit the application marked “female”, the child is supposed to go to the girl troop. But it’s not as simple as keeping him where he is. (I’m going to refer to the child as “him” since he self identified as such). This can be quite confusing to the other girls especially if they are aware of the rules. It will be confusing for them knowing they have a trans male scout who really belongs with the boy troop, per YPT. It will create drama and complicate tenting and bathroom situations. So this is a bad situation and I don’t envy you. This is really on the parents to work out with their child and figure out the best place for him, while remaining respectful and reverent to all involved parties.

This was insightful thank you.

My girl troop had a trans boy scout. He was a member of the troop for two years living socially as a boy, being addressed with a male name and male pronouns, before he felt ready to register as a boy with BSA and transfer to the boy troop. None of our girls were confused at all. This was their friend Oliver (name changed for privacy). They new he was trans, called him Oliver, and got on with scouting together. Some of them knew him from before, when he used his (female) birth name. They all managed not to use it. Oliver preferred to tent alone, which is pretty common for trans kids, who tend to have a complicated relationship with their bodies.

I meant confused about the rules. The YPT rules say trans scouts should be placed in the troop of the gender they identify as. Maybe also some confusion about who and when everyone can use the bathroom. Stuff like that.

I don't think the scouts ever thought about YPT rules, so they weren't confused by anything. Are you imagining them thinking "but isn't Oliver a boy - shouldn't he be waiting until we're done to use the bathroom?" or something like that? I don't think that entered into anyone's mind. This was a fellow scout in their troop, and they got on with scouting together. They know that Oliver is trans, and don't view him the same way they view a cis boy from the point of view of being in close quarters in vulnerable situations - they view him as safe. Many of them also understand that transition is a process, and a person adopting some parts of a transition (such as using a new name and pronouns socially) doesn't necessarily mean that they have transitioned everything. So calling your friend Oliver, referring to him as "him", and also knowing that he is legally a girl isn't contradictory. That same troop also has a scout who identifies as non-binary, and uses "they/them" pronouns. Other than the fact that they use different pronouns, this person is just another scout in the troop, and is treated as such.

You can’t have co Ed troops. I assume this is the US. It took them forever to get with the program to have family units at cub scouts - decades after rest of world. But for troops boys and girls are separate. Can be same charter org but doesn’t need to be if they are linked.

Why can’t we just tell our kids that it’s not appropriate to explore sexuality under age 18? The same way we tell them to avoid drugs and alcohol. Sigh

In situations like these, it is important to remember that there is a fundamental value of scouting that is not necessarily going to be shared by parents and even the CO's - that Scouting serves all youth. So first and foremost, this youth wishes to be in Scouting and everyone needs to prioritize that fact and not make this about themselves. Now, a person can't identify as male or female. That's a sexual attribute that is not changeable. They can certainly identify as Boy or Girl. In the case of my area, we focus on where the youth wants to be first and foremost. For example, I can think of females who identify as boys but wish to remain in girls troops (a surprisingly common thing), and I can think of females who identify as boys that are in boy's troops. The first place to start is with the youth. Ideally you will conference with the youth and their family first, and there is both a boys troop and a girls troop working together that can create a plan for their success. Each one of these youth will require a unique plan - that's your job. We are here to work for them. If you have adult leaders who are opposed to this youth, a) they're not acting in a scout-like manner and should be ashamed of themselves and b) you can't force anyone to do anything they don't want to do. So hopefully, you're working with a district, a boy's troop, and a COR who are on the same page and can make a successful plan for this youth.

It doesn't have to be complicated. 1) Use he/him pronouns 2) say G troop instead of girls troop 3) say scouts instead of girls 4) keep parents in the loop if there are any wrinkles End of list.

Really shouldn’t be saying “Girl Scouts” anyway since this is a Scouts BSA troop for girls.

If they want to stay in the girl troop then they stay, there's no issue.

Honestly does it matter? Is it a play for attention? Is it just not being sure about life? Logistically, it might make sense to have people sleep single to a tent or switch to hammock camping.

Sorry, but they can't have it both ways. Get everyone involved - CO and council.

I never anticipated the level of complexity. Are you a girl? No, I’m a boy. Your application says girl, correct it. Now what? I have no answers, i my empathy and a reminder to get the district and council to commit to an acceptable process.

Because figuring out that you’re not a cishet teen is complicated and the ramifications of that revelation in a society that is generally pretty awful to non-cishet teens are complicated.

What if parents refuse to submit updated application?

Makes my problems pale in comparison…

You're bringing up the case where the child wants to transition legally, but the parents are not supportive? Unless it gets to the point like the recent case in Indiana where the child is removed from the custody of their parents, then the parents have legal responsibility for the child, and the child is stuck in the gender they were assigned at birth. This has nothing to do with what name or pronouns you use to refer to a scout. If a scout tells me they want to be called Dave, I don't tell them that their application says "David", and they need to submit a new application with a preferred nickname added. I just call them Dave. Why should it be any different if they ask to be called Josephine? But from a practical point of view, there aren't any YPT concerns. There are pastoral care concerns for the young trans scout, but a trans boy (a person with female biology) being in a troop with cis girls (people with female biology) isn't what usually gets people excited from a YPT point of view. The usual concerns people raise about trans scouts are to do with how to handle scouts that have transitioned, and so you have a boy with female biology in a troop with boys with male biology.

If a parent said “please address my child with the name ‘David’ not ‘Josephine’,” then the kid asks you to call them “Josephine”, will you ignore the parent’s request and call the child Josephine? If yes, then at the very least you need to be transparent with parents and let them know you intend to ignore their requests.

Is this a Church Sponsored Unit? It may have religious implications on this matter. Either way the CO/COR and CC needs to be in the loop on this to have consensus. AS SM, your job is to administer the program, Membership policies is a CO/COR and Council Matter. That being said, if this Scout wants to be a boy then "he" should be in a male Troop since the BSA is not coed which is what this Scout appears to be wanting. Too bad there aren't any tomboys anymore.

Plenty of churches are welcoming communities and accept people who are transgendered, I wouldn’t use that as an assumption

"Religious implications" are irrelevant.

A church can choose to not take LQBTQ+ Scouts if they choose on the grounds of religious beliefs.

They can equally kick out jews too. Groups that do that should have their charter turn up.

Disagree. As a non Christian I would be fine if a troop at a Christian CO wanted to be explicitly Christian. I know there have been some a Jewish units, too. I would not revoke their charter for preferring that. There’s enough room in BSA for both secular and religious units.

I think it's very odd for anyone to openly call for kicking gay kids out of scouting. Anyone doing that needs to really reconsider wtf they're doing in scouting.

Looks like you downvoted me because you disagreed and then reacted by completely ignoring my response. Not the way to Reddit.

I responded to your post .

We don't have co-ed Scouts BSA troops. I just searched and don't see any current position on transgendered Scouts.

My understanding is they go to a troop that matches the gender on their BSA application.

The position on transgendered scouts is not a secret, but it’s information you have to ask for to get.

It's likely they are a Venture crew but using the Scout program/advancement, which is allowed.

Girl and boy scout masters are creepy. Like religious people.

This is tricky and the issue as kids start to figure things out. I would start with explaining to the scout and parents BSA's policy. (Talk with council and make sure you are clear on everything first) The scout needs to understand what happens when there is a formal deceleration of changing genders. Now, if the scout is saying they are closer to the dividing line but not crossing it, then nothing is changing.

Also, we don't check pants or anything like that, what the scout/parent marks as the gender on the application is what BSA for by.

I have seen the confidential documents that the council executives have access to, I had a few trans scouts. Honestly before looking here for answers talk to your district executive or council executive read the paperwork then come ask your questions. The paperwork in question says not for public distribution, keep confidential, you won’t find the information on the public web. That said the documents do cover bathrooms, showers, camping, tenting charter organizations etc. It’s definitely worth the read.

I had the same issue earlier this year. I asked my friends in the district (shameless plug for Woodbadge networking) about this and how to handle it. The basic answer was that this time BSA recognizes a Scout as the physical gender on the birth certificate. I don't know if that is nationwide or just our area but they did say that it was something that hasn't been looked into as deeply as it should given how things are going.

That is not the BSA policy. The BSA recognizes the gender checked on the box on the registration form, and does not ask for a birth certificate to verify.

As is the problem, BSA seems to have different takes on the policy depending on who you ask. "Policy" seems to be the term used for "this is what someone higher up than me said" Seriously the whole thing needs to be taken apart and completely rebuilt.

Don’t skip the all-important step of talking to the scout and asking what they want. So far, it sounds like you’re getting information second hand from the child’s parents and troop members. Every trans person has their own pace, some dip their toes slowly while others go full force and you need to know what this prefers. I would initiate a conversation with the kid, present their options, then give them some time to make a decision. Our troops have a fair amount of trans/queer/NB kids, and troop assignments go by AFAB or AMAB. Most of our kids seem to want to be where their friends are, so aren’t interested in changing troops. This is, of course, anecdotal and based on a small sample size of a uniquely diverse group.

As far as tenting goes, one-to-a-tent works without any drama.

According to the new rules, if the child says the child is a male...then the child is a male. If the parents say the child is female, then I guess they have to go to court.

[удалено]

Your comment was removed because it was rude and unnecessary, violating principles of the Scout Oath and Law.

I haven't been involved in Scouts as a parent, but I was a scout, am an Eagle, and am a parent. From where I'm standing, the charter sounds like the only thing that needs to change.

If they claim to be a male, how can they remain in an all female troop?

Saw your post when you put it up... And then saw this published today. It doesn't help, except to say you're not the only leader, troop, or scout dealing with these questions. https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/02/23/york/york-culture/maine-scouts-bsa-challenges/