Girl Scout’s boycott an opportunity for transgender community

Shane Wa­­de
Opinion Editor

Although I’ve never been affiliated with the Girl Scouts, their mission, values and cookies have always moved me.

So last week, when a Californian teenage Girl Scout posted a video on YouTube lambasting the Girl Scouts for their decision to include a transgender child in their organization and started a protest in the form of boycotting Girl Scout cookies sales, I took offense. Exclusion has never been the Girl Scout way; indeed, GSUSA came about as a reaction to the exclusionary policies of the Boy Scouts.

In recent years, much attention has rightly been placed on the welfare of homosexuals, particularly those in high school, through the “It Gets Better” movement. But members of the transgender community have been inadvertently snubbed. Their plight and struggle has been severely unrecognized.

But now that critical, national attention – however positive or negative – has been brought to the issue, the opportunity for implementing change is upon us.

Anywhere from 0.25 to 5 percent of Americans are transgender, but there have never been transgender politicians in Congress to represent their unique needs. We currently have conservative politicians so vehemently and ideologically opposed to same-sex marriage that they’re willing to forfeit the thousands of potential votes from those in the LGBT community.

Though other minority groups may, quite justifiably, criticize and lambaste the lack of diversity in Congress and the American political system in general, the existence of the transgender community is mostly ignored within the context of minority groups.

Too few people realize that the same injustices that face homosexuals, persons with disabilities, immigrants, and racial minorities, also affect the transgender, and sometimes more severely.

Just two weeks ago, a bill designed to “restrict access to public restrooms and public dressing rooms designated by sex to members of that particular sex” was introduced to the Tennessee General Assembly.

Although the wording of the bill seems to make sense, it would legally bar transgender persons and non-gender conforming people from public facilities. Although validating one’s sex through the use of identification would solve this problem, Tennessee law makes it nearly impossible to do so.

The Tennessee General Assembly is also embroiled in controversy over a bill to be introduced within the coming weeks that effectively gives students a license to bully other students if they can back it up with their religious beliefs. Hate would be justified by religious beliefs, and the bullied child would be unable to retaliate.

The complexities involved in transgender issues should not be bandied about as an excuse to delay or ignore the discussion. This is an issue that must be brought to the forefront of American society – and sooner rather than later. Justice delayed is justice denied.

This week, we commemorate and celebrate the life and teachings of the late Martin Luther King Jr. Let’s apply those same truths and principles that guided him during the African-American fight for civil rights to this situation.

While we attend a diverse school, full of students of varying sexual orientations, it’s sometimes all too easy to forget their struggle for acceptance elsewhere. I encourage you to show your support of the Girl Scouts and their decision to be inclusive by purchasing their cookies, donating to their organization or writing to your Congressperson to help ensure the rights of all Americans – regardless of sexual orientation or gender – are being respected.