A California-based Girl Scout's planned cookie sale boycott following her organization's decision to accept transgender youth into its troops has sparked furor from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates as well as numerous other groups.
One former scout, however, who happens to be transgender is now speaking out in favor of Girl Scouts' all-encompassing policy. "When I was growing up, I was a Girl Scout," Buck Angel says in the clip. "I was born as a girl, but I always knew I was a guy...they accepted me into the Girl Scout troop and everyone was loving and giving and it was never an issue."
Before encouraging viewers to buy as many Girl Scout cookies as possible (and naming Thin Mints as his favorite), Angel goes on to note, "I just wanted to give a shout to Girl Scouts for accepting transgender Girl Scouts into the Girl Scout troops."
Yesterday, a YouTube clip of a reportedly 14-year-old Girl Scout, identified by World Net Daily only as Taylor from Ventura County, Calif., lambasting her organization for its controversial decision to admit a 7-year-old transgender child to a Colorado troop went viral in the blogosphere. (The original video has since been made private by its users). "Girl Scouts describes itself as an all-girl experience," Taylor, who claimed to have been a Girl Scout for eight years, said in the clip. "With that label, families trust that the girls will be in an environment that is not only nurturing and sensitive to girls' needs, but also safe for girls."
In the fall, Girl Scouts of America defended its decision to admit the 7-year-old transgender child after one troop initially excluded her, noting, "If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout."