The Girl Guides have sparked a a fierce online trans debate after publishing an interview with the parents of a biological boy who started raising him as a girl from the age of five.
In its Summer edition of the Girlguiding magazine, Britain’s largest organisation for girls boasted about its ‘trans inclusive’ credentials as it told the story of ‘Rainbow’, one of its newest members.
In the article, the parents explain that when their child was born, they ‘assumed she was a boy’, before she began ‘identifying more with female characters, toys and books when she was 18 months old.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
The Mail Online reports: Maya Forstater, director of the Sex Matters group that has been supported by the author JK Rowling, refused to recognise the child as a girl.
She said: ‘This from Girlguiding is such dangerous, reality-defying nonsense. A feminine little boy who likes to wear dresses may well grow up to be a gay man. He is not a girl.
‘The idea that a five-year-old knows their ‘true gender’ and should be socially transitioned and affirmed as being the opposite sex is extreme gender ideology, not cautious care.’
Some followers of Ms Forstater agreed with her, branding the piece ‘madness’, ‘dangerous’ and ‘bizarre.’
Others were more supportive, however, as one wrote: ‘Thank you for drawing my attention to this WONDERFUL trans-inclusive article on the Girl Guiding website.
‘I’m so PLEASED that @Girlguiding continue to be supportive of trans youth, and ignore the bigots and haters.’
The mother in the article said ‘Rainbow’ had been ‘begging me to buy a dress to wear in public’, which she initially refused, before finally agreeing because ‘at least with the dress on, she could get back to being a kid’.
‘Jane’ added: ‘My child had always talked about the differences between boys and girls but her questions accelerated as she got older. One day she said to us in a quiet voice: ‘My real name is Rainbow.’
The article said Rainbow’s ‘journey’ happened during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
When she went back to school after lockdown, she returned as her true gender, female,’ it read.
The article had some advice for parents who may come across ‘Rainbow’ or other trans children at Girl Guides – now called Girlguiding – telling them to simply ‘correct’ themselves if they get it wrong.
Jane and Mike said: ‘Using wrong pronouns might feel like a terrible thing to happen, but the important thing is to correct yourself and keep going. If you see them as a girl, then using the right pronouns should happen naturally.
‘Trans girls feel like girls and should be treated as such – as our daughter has said, they are the same on the inside, where it counts.
‘And if other parents ask questions, it’s important to remember that transgender members deserve privacy in the same way everyone else does.’
A Girlguiding spokesman said: ‘Girlguiding is an inclusive organisation which empowers members to find their voice and discover the best in themselves.
We’re proud to be trans-inclusive, and our trans-inclusive equality and diversity policy is grounded in the Equality Act 2010.
We want to ensure that all members receive a great guiding experience and members are regularly invited to write for our guiding magazine to articulate their positive experience of Girlguiding.’
It comes after Girlguiding chiefs were accused earlier this month of promoting ‘woke claptrap’ after advising leaders to learn almost 100 terms linked to gender and sexual identity.
