Scouts and gender identity/trans

[Bringyourfoldingchair]

DS11 has come home from scouts this evening and told me that tonight they were learning about genders. That there were loads of genders and loads of ways of being male, female or both. I have explained to him that there is male or female, you are born either male or female and this cannot be changed.
I had a Quick Look online and came across this: https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/equity-diversity-and-inclusion/lgbtqplus/trans-and-gender-identity/
This had made me deeply uncomfortable that they had this discussion with the children without and discussion with parents. And I have concerns around the policies in the link provided. There are no trans people in the group but at the bigger camps I obviously have no idea who will be there. Also I have concerns around the potential for trans leaders and the impact this may have.
I need to voice my concerns but need advice on the best way of doom so.

You may want to take a look at the Transgender Trend and Safe Schools Alliance websites - they both have lots of very useful information to help when pushing back against these things.

It is important that you push back against this - send an email to the leaders stating your concerns.

It continues because there are too few people willing to say that they are not happy with it - which allows others to insist that everyone is onboard.

What the fuck has this to do with camping and outdoor activities for children. I would be seething and withdraw my child pronto

it has to do with camping because it is a scouts group. I believe there will be loads of parents not aware of their policies (as I wasn’t), sending their kids to a camp under the understanding that there are boys tents and girls tents with each being supervised by a leader of the same sex. It now seems that isn’t actually the case and is obviously a massive safeguarding concern.

They have to convince kids "trans" is a real thing, in the hope that the next generation will fall for the con.

You would think that the Supreme Court Ruling had never happened!!!!
Assigned at birth?
Have we gone back in time?

The link would make me deeply uncomfortable too OP.
Good luck to you

(ex-cub scout leader here, thankfully)

Are sure that’s happening? Or just guessing from the topic. As it absolutely shouldn’t be!

It’s a concern I have based on their policy of allowing trans scouts to pick which facilities they are most comfortable with and no mention of others who may be uncomfortable. I haven’t actually heard of it happening

I'm a Scout Leader

Firstly, the session your child had tonight was probably the bit of the World Challenge badge about differing beliefs in gender, sex etc.

Secondly... camping. Yes, I agree, the "guidance" is open to interpretation. Especially since, Scouts don't insist on single sex sleeping arrangements (but in practice it happens most of the time). They do however insist on single sex changing spaces. The mixed sex sleeping arrangements refer to big groups in a hall, or outside in shelters etc... not that a singe boy and girl can share a 2 berth tent!

I've had a trans identifying Scout. They used the facilities of their sex not acquired gender.

The reality is teens (and younger) are identifying as Trans and it would be wrong (and illegal) to exclude them because of that., so we need to adapt to they are included and single sex boundaries are not overriden. We can't just pretend it doesn't happen.

(I would cancel an event rather than let one Scout dictate sleepinh and changing arrangements l. But in the meantime... I prefer to protect children by being in the organisation rather than just walking out based on a theoretical)

Well it’s true to an extent, in that there really are loads of ways of being male or female, so perhaps take the line that it’s about avoiding stereotypes?

What do you think about all the secrecy involved. Keeping things from other children. There is a bit where they say find out who they’ve told eg do their parents know? How do think parents would react if they find out via someone else. Sorry lots of questions just wanted to know what the adults are told to do in these cases.

I am a Cub leader and I know a lot of the scout leaders. We are all aware of gender identity and the contagion amongst young people in the last decade. Luckily it is noticeably waning. I have not had an 8 year old declare pronouns for the last year thank goodness! In our unit (large group of beavers, cubs and scouts) we are very strict on single sex tents & WCs but we will all share a hall sometimes. I wish this was the same at county level too but there are definitely activists there. We are slowly tackling them. In the meantime I would say scouts is worth fighting for. It’s amazing organisation to get young people out of their normal environment, away from screens and trying something new.

Yes, this nonsense exists in theory, but there is no need for individual leaders to use these resources. My son has just completed 4 years in a scout troop, and this would not have been given any head space. My son would definitely have told if this had been introduced. He told his yr 6 teacher that it wasn't possible to change sex when they tried to brainwash the children with the Jigsaw PHSE bollocks.

Transactivists targeted the Scouts and every single children's organisation relentlessly. That's why we've a generation of children and young people believing that a sex change will cure their pubertal angst.
I know that the Scouts were forced to roll back on their extreme trans policies some years ago but the trans extremist influence is still there.
It's great that parents are criticising this. In the light of the awful safeguarding history the Scouts have, it shows the power of transactivism that they allowed themselves to get caught up in this anti safeguarding, age inappropriate cult.