Girl Guides are now GIRL ONLY!

[Iamwhoiamwhoareyou]

Following April's supreme court ruling, the Girl Guides have FINALLY made a statement and will remain GIRLS ONLY - Finally closing the door on admitting trans members or allowing BOYS to invade female only spaces/camp (which, would be done without informing parents that their daughter would be sharing a room with a biological male!) - I have a previous post in feminism chat for anyone wanting to read the previous thread on this

EMAIL RECEIVED HOT OFF THE PRESS 5 MIN AGO -

As the parent of a young member in Girlguiding, following April’s Supreme Court decision relating to sex and gender, we wanted to give you an update. Many organisations across the country have been facing complex decisions about what it means for girls and women and for the wider communities affected, including us.

Girlguiding’s governing charity documents set out that the membership and people who benefit from our organisation are girls and women. In April, the Supreme Court ruled that girls and women are defined in the Equality Act 2010 by their biological sex at birth.
Following detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members and our Council, Girlguiding’s Board of Trustees has made the difficult decision that Girlguiding must change Girlguiding must change, following the Supreme Court’s ruling.

From today, 2 December, it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing trans girls and young women will no longer be able to join Girlguiding. This is a decision we would have preferred not to make, and we know that this may be upsetting for members of our community.

There will be no immediate changes for current young members but more information will be shared next week.

Most adult roles, including unit helpers, district helpers and administrative support, are already open to all, so we are confident that no volunteers will have to leave the organisation.

Girlguiding believes strongly in our value of inclusion, and we will continue to support young people and adults in marginalised groups. Over the next few months, we'll explore opportunities to champion this value and actively support young people who need us.

You can find our full statement and updated policy on our website.

We are proud to be the UK’s largest youth organisation dedicated to girls and is focused on creating an equal world for girls and young women. For over 100 years, we have been a welcoming space for all girls to have new experiences, support their communities, build friendships and grow their confidence.

While Girlguiding may feel a little different going forward, these core aims and principles will always be the same. We remain committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect, particularly those from marginalised groups that have felt the biggest impact of this decision.

If you have any immediate questions, we have our special support team in place, to give volunteers, parents and carers the best support we can. We are asking Girlguiding HQ, trading and country/region staff to refer any volunteer or parent who has questions about this announcement. Details below.

Contact [email protected] or 020 7532 3970
All calls/emails will be confidential, and the service will be open 24hrs, 7 days a week.
Find out more, including how this team will handle personal data.

Denise Wilson (Chair of Trustees), Felicity Oswald (CEO) and Tracy Foster (Chief Guide)

As a pp stated, birth certificates exist.

When I were a lass Guiding was single sex.
When did they change that to add adult men?

Is there a set number of trans people you have to know before you suddenly stop caring about women and girls' equality and access?

Do you run a single sex group? Obviously it would be a parent who signs a child up to the group. Do you think parents would lie about their child's sex to sign them up to an opposite sex group. That would be bizarre. Please don't talk about inspecting children's genitals. That's really creepy.

That would have made it even better, but to be honest I'm so happy about the news that it doesn't bother me too much.

Thank goodness it seems that some of this madness is getting a little less.. mad!

I bet you could start a row in an empty room

Pretty sure you are being ageist - age is a protected characteristic under EA2010.

It isn't about their motivation to join a woman only group though. They are men, they have been socialised male and have all the sense of entitlement, boldness and risk taking that comes with that socialisation- even at the age of 4.

Girls are inherently at a disadvantage because of their female socialisation. Places like Guides are a chance to overcome some of that.

If a boy gets the lead part in the play or dominates the group, what then? It's just another opportunity for the girls to learn their place.

You can't include boys because they can and probably will dominate. They can't help it due to their socialisation. And it affects all ages.

Imo not a single boy or man should have the opportunity. And the law agrees.

I doubt anyone has a clue due to the way HQ has supressed the issue at every level.

The child we have is registered under her female birth/ legal name, not her favoured "male" name.

It is more likely that there are girls with male identities in the organisation than males that have joined with female identities. Some will have joined prior to changing their "gender identity" but wanted to stay in a familiar environment. In our case, her parents feel that single sex environments give postitive role models of her sex whereas joining Scouting (which in our nearest group is heavily male biases) would have entrenched her sense of conforming to masculine stereotypes.

But why would it matter? Do you think trans people are somehow different because they claim they feel like the opposite sex? The issue has never been 'trans' people. The issue is males in female spaces. We could know 5 thousand trans people each. It would not change the fact that they haven't changed sex, and there is still a need for female only spaces. A lot of people ask the 'how many trans people do you know' question as if it's some sort of gotcha. It's irrelevant. People are male and female. That's it. A trans identifying male is still a male. No matter what dress he wears.

Hahaha. That's their username!

‘Looking at their genitals’. The bingo card is up and running!

Are you really saying humans, who have been able to tell the sex of other humans since the beginning of time, really can’t tell who, children, is male and who is female up close and personal without looking at their genitalia? (Including males with long hair and females with short hair). It’s not difficult.

It's not

I disagree. I can always identify which sex children are. Not maybe at first sight but as soon as they speak or interact you can tell. Same with adults actually. Very rare not to be able to. I never ever look at anyone’s genitals or ever want to.

I think it's highly relevant when the poster said they base they opinions on the trans people they know. It snacks of "I'm not homophobic, I have loads of gay friends!"

For what it's worth, I actually agree with a lot of the GC comments and views. I'm just calling out the people saying silly things. 😂

Nope it’s the marvellous @WearyAuldWumman who may or not be a pensioner - but the way you used the word ‘pensioner’ was pejorative.

ETA as cannot spell/type tonight…

I am so happy with this reversal speaking as someone who was heavily involved in the movement.

I do not object to men who are men being involved. In the our area the husband of one the leaders was heavily involved in the movement - not a leader but a helper at the meetings - he was fantastic.

I'm so confused - so trans girls won't be allowed? As in, born male but now identify as girls? That feels like a step backwards doesn't it and such a shame for young people who probably really do need the support and strength of a community x

...well done, I guess? Very good talent to have.

You can have a second facebook account for the purposes of being anonymous. I too wouldn't post under my real name, but I do have 2 other Fb accounts with pseudonyms.

Boys won't be allowed in the Girl Guides. Yes.

Oh for goodness sake. It absolutely was not. I didn't check their actual username -- can now see it's "new" and not "old".

This place is mental!!

It's a single sex organisation for girls only. No boys allowed