Guidance for Councils on Transgender Issues

Prepared and Endorsed by GSUSA Transgender Issues Task Group (Fall 2013)

GSUSA Statement:

Transgender girls are welcome in the Girl Scouts, with the welfare and best interests of the child being the top priority. 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.

When considering the placement of transgender youth, councils are asked to consider the following questions:

 Is the child living culturally as a girl?  Is the child recognized by her family as a girl?  Is the child recognized by her school and/or community as a girl?

Living culturally as a girl may mean some or all of the following: dressing as a girl, possibly using a culturally accepted female name or nickname, parents/caregivers use female pronouns when referring to the child, is considered “a girl” in her daily- life.

Notes to Council Leadership:

 GSUSA has conducted research, and consulted councils and experts on transgender children. The content in this document captures what we have learned and, as a result, you will find added and/or refined content that more specifically addresses and expands on guidance previously distributed. Please take a few minutes to review this document and as you continue to develop council practices related to transgender members, use it as a reference along with the resources recommended here and in Risk Management.

 When considering the right pathway or type of participation of a transgender youth, councils and families are highly encouraged to have a conversation on elements of participation and confidentiality that will create a positive and safe environment.

 As soon as possible, GSUSA recommends that council identifies key team members responsible for supporting the family in the initial stage after the membership request. Promptly establishing rapport with the family and clearly indicating who on the team is their primary contact, will make a huge difference as the girl and family participate in various aspects of Girl Scouts.

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 Girl Scouts of the USA is an inclusive organization, and we welcome all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members who meet the eligibility criteria. Transgender cases infrequently come to national attention out of respect for privacy for the child and family involved in any specific situation. Should you receive a request for membership, feel free to contact the Council Connect Social Issues consultant. You will also find additional information and resources in Risk Management Chapter 6 (Crisis Management & Communications) and Chapter 7 (Sensitive Issues and Inclusion).

 As always, councils should consult their legal counsel to be aware of local laws pertaining to serving transgender girls to ensure necessary accommodations are addressed appropriately and expeditiously. Resources from GSUSA (this document and Risk Management) should serve as the starting point for guidance.

 Councils should provide education for staff and board members regarding transgender youth and the issues surrounding their participation in Girl Scouts at the local level. This topic is discussed further below.

Recommended Council Understanding & Practice for Welcoming Transgender Girls:

Every Girl is Unique There is no one type of transgender girl. Every child's sense of self, path to it, and how she is (or isn't) supported is unique. Given this reality, a flexible Council practice that engages the girl’s family and expert resources, early in the process will be critical to successfully integrating transgender girls into Girl Scouts.

External experts have shared that Councils will be most successful if they invite the family of the transgender girl to work with them as a team to ensure that she has a safe and supported experience as a Girl Scout. Again, this recognizes that each girl's situation will be individual, and that only her family will be able to articulate their own situation clearly.

While Council Staff may want to focus exclusively on the fact that this girl is transgender—it's important to note that transgender youth often want to minimize this fact. For them, they are just being themselves and they want to focus on the aspects of their lives that make them just like other girls—being transgender does not define them and Girl Scouting can and should be promoted as a positive leadership opportunity for them and for all girls.

Privacy Perhaps the most important factor that Councils will need to take into consideration is that families will have differing viewpoints about their daughter’s privacy. Some families will be very open about their child being transgender, and will believe that raising awareness in their community about transgender children will be an essential part of creating a safe community for their child. Other families will feel just as strongly 2 \\NY - 033635/000001 - 2759255 v1 that their child will be most safe if no one knows that their child is transgender. Neither thought is "right" or "wrong," and both are to be respected. Clarifying early in the process which viewpoint the family holds will lead the Council down different paths as they plan the girl's participation.

Families who are open about having a transgender child If a girl and her family are open about being transgender, then we can assume that the Council will know, the troop leader will know, and the other girls in her troop will know. However, a girl’s transgender status may be considered confidential medical information. Therefore, this status may only be communicated with others with the expressed permission of the family.

Only about 8% of Americans say they personally know someone who is transgender. Therefore, people may have a lot of questions. A family who is open about having a transgender girl might be willing to answer some of those questions for other families involved in the troop. The Council might offer to work with the family to distribute written materials and/or hold a discussion to address some of those questions with other families in the troop.

However, under no circumstances should a family feel required to engage in an educational opportunity in order to participate in Girl Scouts. If the family does agree to an educational opportunity with other families in the troop, experts should be engaged to ensure that it is handled constructively and a "safe space" is created for the family, and especially for the child. Recommended external experts for this and related issues are listed at the end of this document.

If the girl’s troop or group is meeting in a faith based facility that the family is a member of, it would be helpful to inquire whether the family has communicated the girl’s status with their faith leader. In this case, the overall plan for program participation could be strengthened. If the faith leader has not been informed, council should feel free to share that GSUSA has found that many faith organizations provide spiritual support to families with transgender children, and address the matter confidentially. However, it shall be the family’s decision whether to pursue such an option, and councils should take care to be sensitive if the family perceives said faith community to be less receptive than perceived by the troop’s leaders.

Families who want their child to have complete privacy Other families may not feel that it is safe for their community to know that their daughter is transgender. Or, the transgender girl herself may be adamant that no one know that she is transgender.

GSUSA clearly affirms that transgender girls have the right to privacy, and their participation in Girl Scouts is in no way predicated on the idea that they must be public about being transgender.

Council staff must make it clear to parents/caregivers of transgender girls that staff will endeavor not to disclose a transgender girl's status or violate her privacy. Her transgender status is no different than other personal issues girls and their families don't want shared with others.

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It must also be said clearly to the parents/caregivers of the transgender girl that the Council cannot guarantee that others won't find out from some other source. For example, this could be gossip from community members who know the family, or the information could be revealed during a medical emergency.

Therefore, GSUSA strongly recommends that the troop, series leader, or adult most closely involved with the participating transgender girl be aware of the girl's transgender status. This must be clearly communicated to the parents and framed as a concern about the safety of the transgender girl. GSUSA does not want a situation where a troop leader is caught off-guard and may be unprepared to deal with an emergency or some other high stakes situation. This would expose the transgender girl to unnecessary risk of embarrassment or physical harm. Comparisons may be made to other situations where troop or group leaders are informed about allergies or other health compromising situations that they must be prepared for when in charge of a group of girls.

Most parents will understand that the troop leader knowing that their child is transgender is important for their child's safety and comparable to why school leaders might be notified. This understanding will be greatly enhanced when the family feels they are part of a team that is committed to their daughter’s wellbeing.

In the rare situation where a parent insists that no one but a Council staff person knows, the Council lead team member should engage outside experts who can speak to the parents about the risk associated with having their child under the sole supervision of an adult who is unaware their child is transgender. GSUSA suggests engaging outside experts from the National Organizations listed at the end of this document.

Specifics of Participation For most families, particularly of young girls, their idea of joining Girl Scouts is that their daughter will be joining a Girl Scout troop, engaging in a leadership experience, selling cookies, earning badges, etc. Parents/Caregivers of transgender girls will have this same expectation. Councils do their best to offer choices for participation, but cannot guarantee placement in a specific troop or group. All parents will be surprised to find out that sometimes Councils cannot provide the exact participation experience a girl would like to have due to limited space in the troop, availability of resources, etc.

Parents of a transgender girl may be very sensitive to the idea that their child is being singled out and denied participation solely because she is transgender. Extra care should be taken by Council staff when explaining to parents that not all girls can participate in Girl Scouts exactly the way they would like to and that a transgender girl may face limits on her participation—but they are the same limits any other girl might face.

Therefore, Councils must be clear in communicating that transgender girls (whether open about being transgender or not) are welcome to participate in all aspects of Girl Scouting provided they meet the eligibility criteria. Nothing is off-limits to them simply because they are transgender and that the Council staff will work to provide all available participation opportunities.

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Resolving Conflicts/Rumors Girl Scout troops and groups are unfortunately not immune to conflict arising and/or rumor spreading. In the case that a conflict has started or a rumor is spread involving a transgender girl’s status or participation, Councils should realize that traditional mediation practices might not be an option here due to issues of privacy for the transgender girl and her family. Instead, the Council should first reach out to the transgender girl and her family to engage them in the process of deciding how best to manage and resolve the situation while working to maintain emotional safety and dignity for the girl and her family.

If rumors and gossip begin to circulate about a transgender child who is not open about her transgender status, then the troop leader and/or Council should inform the family immediately that this situation has developed. Where the rumors started is not the issue, the issue is how to make sure the transgender girl feels safe in her troop, and she has the support of her family and troop leader in facing these rumors. The Council should never suggest to the family that others in the troop have a "right" to know whether or not the rumors are true. Whatever communication happens should be focused on protecting the transgender girl from bullying and/or gossip.

Accommodating Transgender Girls at Camp Camp is an integral part of leadership experiences for girls in Girl Scouting. Transgender girls should be welcomed to such opportunities, just as all girls are welcomed to camp. Although camp accommodations vary widely across the country, an ideal situation will allow transgender girls to use the same bathrooms, showers, and tents as other girls, as long as the transgender girl has the ability to keep her body private.

Transgender girls are looking to assimilate with their peers and fit-in to typical camp situations. While many girls are uncomfortable about their bodies and desire privacy, transgender children are typically extremely private about their bodies. They often have a tremendous discomfort with their bodies, and they don’t want anyone to see them. So while others may have concerns about girls seeing a transgender girl's genitals, it is very unlikely to happen. In fact, experts say that most transgender girls will go out of their way to hide their bodies. Many transgender girls will have had experience navigating similar situations at public swimming pools, during sleepovers or through participation in sports, dance, drama or other such activities that involved changing in and out of clothes. However, while a transgender girl may value privacy, she will often feel very uncomfortable if asked to use "separate" facilities. Some transgender girls will appreciate the option to have a private bathroom, shower, or tent, while others will feel like this will only draw everyone's attention to the fact that they are somehow "different." Transgender girls might become anxious or concerned that simply by using separate facilities, others’ curiosity will be peaked, or suspicions confirmed. School policies which require transgender youth to use the nurse's bathroom or a staff bathroom are stigmatizing and often result in children trying to go an entire day without using the restroom at all. This stigmatizing potential can be reduced by 5 \\NY - 033635/000001 - 2759255 v1 [Type text] [Type text] [Type text]

assuring the girl and her family that she can use the same facilities if she wishes. But if she would prefer separate accommodations, she would not be the only girl making that type of request. Girl Scouts receives similar requests from non-trans girls due to cultural norms, medical or health issues, body image, or issues of modesty. Holding high expectations of boundaries and respecting others’ privacy is essential for a positive Girl Scout camp experience for all girls. Again, working collaboratively with the girl’s family will go a long way towards coming to a positive resolution of questions arising about accommodations. Council staff are encouraged to discuss the best possible accommodations and those successfully employed in the past (e.g., at school or another camp) with the transgender girl and her family, prior to going to camp. Such accommodations will help the girl have happy, safe and successful times at camp.

Education Opportunities for Council Staff and Volunteers GSUSA always recommends that local-level educational workshop opportunities be provided all Council Staff and Volunteers on the topic of handling diversity and inclusion. When creating these opportunities or partnering with external resources or consultants to offer such experiences, it is recommended that the topic of transgender youth also be addressed alongside other issues of diversity that staff and volunteers would be expected to handle. Orienting up front those who work in direct service to girls and their families, will position your Council best for success in these and all situations. Suggested external resources and experts are listed at the end of this document.

A Note about Transgender Boys Someone who is born a girl may participate in Girl Scouts for many years before realizing that she is transgender and/or wishing to be public about that status. Some transgender boys might immediately decide to leave Girl Scouts since it is a gender- specific activity for girls and they desire acceptance and recognition as a male.

Some youth may wish to stay during or after transition to living culturally as a male. They may feel that Girl Scouting has been a significant part of their identity that they don't want to lose or fear that relationships with friends that were developed through Girl Scouting might be lessened.

However, Girl Scouts is a single-gender organization for girls. An open dialogue with the boy and his family that supports a positive departure from Girl Scouting for that child will be necessary to their having successful experiences in their larger community. GSUSA recommends engaging the expert external resources listed at the end of this document for further guidance.

External Resources for Councils and GSUSA

6 \\NY - 033635/000001 - 2759255 v1 Joel Baum, MS Senior Programming Director Gender Spectrum 510-567-3977 [email protected] www.genderspectrum.org

Nick Adams Associate Director of Communications GLAAD 323-634-2043 [email protected] www.glaad.org

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