Girlguiding's trans policy - join our group to lobby GG for change

[AgnesBadenPowell]

Some of you will have seen my previous threads here and in AIBU about Girlguiding's transgender policy. I, and many other Leaders (and parents), feel that they've got this one wrong. I've got a thread on AIBU about this but also wanted to post here too as there was so much interest and support.

Since we highlighted the issue of mixed accommodation without parental consent, and the suggestion that gender nonconforming girls get 'managed out', Girlguiding has been quietly updating the policy on the website, to try and accommodate parental concern that they didn't anticipate. This still doesn't address the underlying issues and there was no announcement of the changes; I only discovered them by comparing cached pages with the live webpage.

Fair Play For Women has put together an article comprehensively setting out the issues in black and white, asking for them to be addressed. They worked on this not just with me, but a number of other concerned Leaders and parents.

You can read a one page fact sheet that summarises our concerns here:

https://fairplayforwomen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/FPFWGirlguidess_factsheet.pdf

If you'd like to see the full article, which discusses our concerns in detail and is fully referenced, you can do that here:

https://fairplayforwomen.com/guide-leaders-call-for-halt/

If you share our concerns and would like to support this initiative, there is a (public) Facebook group where parents and Leaders can talk about it and add their voice. If we don't speak, no one will hear us:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/902343833223644

Policies which refuse to address the safeguarding of children need to be urgently questioned and clarified. At the moment, many organisations are being given bad advice, getting ahead of the law and misinterpreting the current legislation. Because, yet again, they are only getting one side of the story.

We want all children to benefit from Girlguiding, transgender or otherwise.

The policies need to reflect that everyone should be taken into account, without one group being prioritised to the detriment of another.

Feel free to tweet and otherwise share the links above so as many people as possible hear about this.

And finally, thank you to Fair Play For Women and the leaders and parents who contacted me after reading the other threads. I would never have been able to do this alone

Super hard. I think Agnes is doing the right thing, and the more parents that raise their concerns to GG the better - it will serve as an antidote and a real world reminder that the trans lobbyists are exactly that - lobbyists. They aren’t representative of the needs of girls and young women, and there are very real problems with allowing the organization to centre membership along gender lines and not sex, as previously.
I’m not sure that parents who are not on mn/ twitter/ fb will be aware though - and the informal GG leader networks seem to be very reluctant to allow discussion. I understand why - it’s the same fear that any woman faces. No one wants to be accused of bigotry or transphobia - but shutting down discussion that centres on the safety of girls and young women, and concerns about best safeguarding practice, makes me really worried for the future of an organization I love. Leaders really need parents to be passing this information around and encouraging people to speak up - as some leaders are fearful that voicing opposition to policy will mean they have to leave. And at the moment, these leaders are the ones who are prioritizing girls’ safe spaces. They believe in guiding as a safe space for girls.
Such a mess. I’m pleased FPFW are on the ball. I hope the document is used as a template to question other spaces that don’t believe they have the right to use the EA exemptions too.

Girlscout - thank you so much for the information, very grateful here. How things have come to this seems so absurd.
Re-reading every post again now to try and absorb this information with a view to raising with our Brownie and Beavers leaders.

Happy Camper

You're welcome. The original FPFW report on this is long but it's super comprehensive, that might be good for leaders?

fairplayforwomen.com/guide-leaders-call-for-halt/

Here is an old article I recently found, just as the new policy was introduced. Who knows how widespread these concerns were at the time, possibly extensive.

www.pressreader.com/uk/the-scottish-mail-on-sunday/20170129/283356176845161

However reliable a source it is I think its a good example. Children should at least have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and be socially seen as a girl, adults should have a GRC unless its for an unrestricted role (eg. unit helper). And even then there would be sensitive issues for camping needing handled carefully. Both my DDs were in the guides and I would have had some reassurance from these practices, but not on a boy or man's say so and without my knowledge.

Just spotted a new article, GirlGuides gets a mention, only takes five minutes to read and sums up really well the clever way trans lobby groups are disregarding the equality act

notthenewsinbriefs.wordpress.com/2018/04/05/have-women-and-girls-got-too-many-rights/