Girlguiding dilemma

[Nameychangey33]

Name changed for this in case outing but frequent on this board.

DD currently goes to an activity with a small bunch of other girls. Now all of the girls are joining a group under the Girlguiding banner and I really don't know what to do. DD is the only one not going. If she gets wind of it, and at some point she will, she will feel left out and ask to join. At this point there may be no spaces and I'll feel guilty for not registering her.

I've had a good read of the website, it's all kindness this and inclusion that, and their position is still letting self id rule for members and volunteers alike. Their section on any parent of girls with questions, basically refer them to their page (for 'education' basically!) I think at DDs age my main concern is she comes home from a session talking about pronouns and identities etc. I don't want her subjected to any woo woo at such an impressionable age. I also don't want GG to see her registration as me condoning their position of this ideology, as I really really don't.

I really get on with all the other mums, but I don't want to rock to boat by voicing any of this to them though. But I don't want DD left out, and by extension, me too. I find it hard to make friends, and these are the only mum friends I have. If DD was to join anything like this I'd rather it was under Scouting because you know you're getting mixed sex from the get go. But her friends aren't there.

I'm probably over thinking this, I could just let her go and keep a good eye over what she's learning there.

Not interested in the usual lurkers popping up to tell me what a bigot I am so bugger off in advance. More do I just grit my teeth and swallow my principles because it'll make DD happy to be with her friends.

Guide Association settles with Katie Alcock www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4533836-guide-association-settles-with-katie-alcock

Is there an opportunity for you to meet privately with the women who run the local GG group and express your concerns? I would hope that they would include women like Katie Alcock, who would use their personal judgment and not necessarily follow every diktat of GG HQ. My guess/ hope is that things will look very different in 2-3 years' time, when the Cass report has been published, Stonewall has been discredited, the GRA's been abolished, the NHS is being sued for sterilising young people and so on. I would hope to see U-turn in GG policies. So I might encourage my daughter to attend but be very clear at home that boys can't become girls and that she's to tell me if there's a boy in the group. And offer her the alternative of going to Scouts, where at least they are open about being mixed sex?

I've been reading about Katie Alcock. Very sensible woman.

I might be shot down for this but if you are born male and know you were born in the wrong body and should be female, and still keep your bits and pieces, it's wrong. Lia Thomas for example. And the cyclist Emily whatever their name is,. Sorry I am too lazy to look up the name. It's like they want their cake and eat it as well. Just be who you think you are meant to be.

Look at this. Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha. Now they're Charles. So confusing.

www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/top-london-lawyer-changed-gender-three-times/WOEMFCEM7VKWBMPSLM4GVCIMZQ/

I don't know, instinctively I'd rather no one decided to get rid of their crown jewels, I mean I've never had one but what a step to take and what if they change their mind, like people have been known to do about stuff 🤣🤣🤣.

Find another club.
I would tell DD and friends, she's doing swimming/dance/karate/football/drama/tutoring etc on that day. So can't make it. Never mind, she'll look forward to seeing them another time.

I'm a Brownie leader and am currently having a dispute with Girlguiding. Many leaders don't know anything about self-ID, but if the situation arose they wouldn't get any support from volunteer support.

Here is where I'm at with it:

• I emailed my concerns in a comprehensive, rather extensive email
• They responded in a way that did not address any of my concerns, and gave me a scenario, a deadline to respond to that scenario and a threat of "taking things further" if I did not respond in time
• I spoke to a lawyer, Peter Daly (he has given me permission to share his name) who has dealt with this before, and he wrote an excellent response letter to the Chief Exec. Within that letter he pointed out their discriminatory behaviour towards me and my gender critical beliefs (as protected thanks to Maya Forstater). He asked them to answer lots of questions in relation to their response and their lack of response to my original concerns
• She has responded (admitting that the level of volunteer support I received was perhaps "not sufficient", which is a bit of an understatement. One of the things she said in her response was the suggestion of a one-to-one meeting with the Chief Commissioner for my region and the head of the Safe Practice Team

I have not responded yet to the Chief Exec. I plan on suggesting a meeting with herself, with not just me but with a group of leaders and parents who share the same concerns and have been palmed off with the same response. I think it is important that Girlguiding listen to our voices. I suspect their approach is to pick us off one by one, but a group may have a bigger impact. For this reason, they may not agree to meeting a group, but that would say a lot in itself.

So, if you have raised concerns and have been palmed off, if you've been too afraid to raise concerns for fear of you or your daughter being kicked out, if you are a leader, ex-leader or parent of a girl in Girlguiding and you would be interested in attending a meeting with me - please send me a private message. If you are not keen on attending a meeting but you'd still like your voice to be heard, please message me - maybe we could take some written statements with us as well.

AJNorthWest thank you. I've removed my daughter from Brownies and won't use the organisation until they sort this mess out and I know I can trust them with the wellbeing of my child.

I will message you.

Oh, one thought was that you might get a better response if you make a new post asking for input?