Transgender children to be allowed to join Guides
Gabriella Jozwiak
Monday, January 23, 2017
Transgender children and young people are to be allowed to become Guides, Girlguiding has announced.
The organisation said any child or young person who self-identifies as a girl or young woman aged from five to 25 years can now become a member regardless of the sex they were assigned at birth.
The charity's recently-published equality and diversity policy states that Girlguiding aims to support all girls and young women, and recognises that an individual "self-identifies their gender identity - a person's inner sense of self".
The guidelines extend to adults who self-identify as women, who will be able to undertake leadership and voluntary roles within the organisation.
They also specify that the organisation will seek to support children and adults who are transitioning from female to male while being members.
It states: "They will be experiencing a great amount of change and uncertainty.
"Flexibility and the leaders' discretion in conversation with the parents must be used to determine how long the child stays within the unit."
Girlguiding chief executive Julie Bentley said the changes comply with the Equality Act 2010, "which makes clear that organisations providing single-sex services such as Girlguiding should treat people according to their acquired gender".
"As such, and in line with our values of inclusion, we welcome any young person who self-identifies as a girl or young woman," she added.
Girlguiding has been a girl-only organisation since its foundation in 1910.
The Scouts youth organisation, which is mixed gender, has followed a policy of not treating any young person less favourably on the basis of gender, including gender reassignment, since 2014.
