Telegraph article today on Girlguiding debate over inclusion of trans girls

[IdaGlossop]

<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/2026.03.22-105403/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/22/girl-guides-at-war-over-trans-ban" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://archive.ph/2026.03.22-105403/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/22/girl-guides-at-war-over-trans-ban/

I thought it would be clearer to start a new thread rather than add to any of the several that already exist.

This article from today's Telegraph confirms what has long been apparent: that there is a group actively campaigning from within Girl Guides for the inclusion of trans girls. It's called Gate - Guides Against Trans Exclusion. It's desperately frustrating that a childhood experience of girls should be complicated by this issue, especially when as in this case, there is a home for all young people in The Scouts.

I saw that. What I don’t understand is that scouts are mixed - so why on earth wouldn’t a trans child join them? The unfortunate conclusion to be drawn is that trans girls and trans women (just remember that trans = pretend or fake) have such a sense of their own entitlement that the feelings of girls and women count for absolutely nothing.

I'm afraid your link didn't work for me, but this one does: https://archive.ph/NuiYT

sesquipedalia
What I don’t understand is that scouts are mixed - so why on earth wouldn’t a trans child join them?

Because the parents need to be able to use other people and organisations to validate their choices.

Isn't it awful? Just shows how desperate too many trans adults are to trash and destroy any organisation devoted to women and / or girls.

I used to love guides, it’s heartbreaking what’s happening to it.

I thought it looked odd and should have checked it. Thank-you for rectifying.

That, and the addiction to making a fuss and drawing attention to oneself.

This is the issue with so many voluntary groups. Not enough people want to do the heavy lifting so any individual or group prepared to sit on committees can infiltrate. There used to be a couple of TW Guide Commissioners and of course once you have them any dissent can be pitched as personal.

But yes, how ridiculous that women who dedicate their time to Guides don’t think girls worthy of an organisation to themselves.

Friend of mine (not on mumsnet, and yes, she is fine with me posting) is on the taskforce. She is as terfy as they come and did not hide that when applying for the taskforce.

Members of the taskforce were ask to respond to proposals of inclusive guide troops/influencing societal change on this issue. She shared her response with me, it was uncharacteristically measured for the topic 😆I will not reproduce her response, but it was a clear "that is not what guides are for, and by adopting this guides who are gc are no longer able to express their beliefs and participate as such". (paraphrasing)

So hopefully she and others like her will be in the majority?

I hope these efforts at infiltration by activists will no longer be possible now that more women are aware of where they lead. It's how self ID laws were passed in Ireland and other places, by people assuming that they were just "being kind" from lack of familiarity with the problem (I was the same myself back then, though not in government, lol).
But I hope that the time has passed when this could be done without people realising what was happening:

I have it on very good authority that this is the tip of a very murky iceberg.

Guides are for girls. So they either become mixed sex or no to trans people.

Hooray for your friend Fabulous. Here’s hoping that other women on the task force also believe in prioritising girls.

I think their strap line is “whilst adults debate children bleed”
So…. Children who don’t get their own way will self harm? Useful life skill there to teach
and of course the terrible irony of the strapline when of course if one thinks of menstruation and bleeding, it’s never gonna happen for the ones they want to include

Trans means across or beyond. As in transcontinental, transatlantic, transubstantiation, transmit etc etc. Transvestite comes from trans, across, and vestire (clothing) i.e. cross dressing.

There is no need to misrepresent the meaning of words in order to support your argument.

From their Dundee protest last weekend.
Yes, that's Maggie Chapman of the Scottish Greens.

The same reason transwomen won't use the mixed pond on Hampstead Heath, and don't want gender neutral toilets.
It's not the space they want, it's the women in it, but this is far more sinister, as it's adults pushing it on children
I say children, and they are, but it starts with Rainbows aged 4, but ends with Rangers aged 18.
So tiny girls, to possibly adult sized men that those tiny girls have been brainwashed to accept as girls.

So boys will potentially hurt themselves if they don't get their own way, and if girls are permitted rights and groups of their own? And the answer to this is to immediately take the rights off the girls and give the boys whatever it is they currently think they want?

That seems an absolutely sane, normal and progressive response, well evidenced, thought through and in keeping with national and international policy on women and girls rights, the announced measures against VAWG, equality, that sort of thing.

I'm afraid I think Guides is probably dead, the lobby has killed another host. It has no conscience, or anything but the long, dysfunctional and dysregulated wail of Me Want It.

My enitre leadership team feels the ruling is unjust, and wear the neckers and badges. I've kept very, very quiet about the topic, because I do like my team, but it's a bloody lonely place to be.
I also really want to point out that not all trans people have been excluded, just those who are biologically male. But I guess that's not so important too them.
I haven't seen anyone apart from here that feels like I do. That Girlguiding is a safe space for girls and young women. Some things only work becuase we're all girls.
A case in point. I took a group of Rangers away. We stayed in hotels. In a few of them, the girls were happy to share double beds with each other, as were the leaders. I would not have been happy to do that if anyone had been a male. We'd have had to spend more money to ensure an individual bed for everyone.

Ah yes, but it would hurt the trans girls feelings so much if they weren’t treated just the same and weren’t allowed to share a double bed….

Guides has been really beneficial for my 13 year old daughter. She tried Scouts but found it far too intimidating - Guides has been a real safe space for her

Her unit hasn't been impacted by the trans issue, as no "trans" kids attempted to join. There was no fallout with announcement of excluding male trans identified children. Everyone just carried on as normal, no campaigns or outrage. It seems that the silent majority either didn't care or is relived about the decision. Many parents I've spoken too are sceptical of the concept of "trans kids" and aware of the safeguarding issues alongside. For every person demanding Guides is trans inclusive - there are many more who are silently relived its not.

Girl guiding as an organisation has handled this very wrongly, it should have had the strength to stand up and say "we are for girls", rather then the mixed messaging that implies its being forced to block trans kids. There are plenty of people within Guides that are happy about the ruling, they just don't shout about it publicly because it's still be dangerous to be outed as terf

I hope Guides sticks to the decision and doesn't backtrack. It does feel that the organisation has lost its way on this topic.
At a grass routes level Guides is still doing an important work. The individual Units can be brilliant, with great volunteer leaders providing important opportunities for young girls. Its not fair that this work is being overshadowed by a culture war thats only going to damage an organisation that at its best does great things.

Genuine question - is this new policy from girl guiding actually impacting on many males?
like, how many trans girls have actually been excluded? Or is it point of principle, there’s a song and dance being made by the GATEs organisation as a virtue signal , and the number of trans girl guides across the UK is in the tens not hundreds

They need leaders like you to speak out.
It's always hard to put your head above the parapet, but when you do, others will follow.