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News & ArtsWednesday, January 11, 2012
Video of the Day Lunchtime Quickie: Today in Awful and Ignorant Girl Scouts...
Posted by Kelly O on Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 12:25 PM
Really?! A "safety" issue? This boy is "dangerous"?
1
Hateful little shit. She doesn't understand the concept of transgender. If she wants a safe environment in GSUSA, she needs to leave.
No comments or ratings on her video on YouTube, that's a real "connection."
No comments or ratings on her video on YouTube, that's a real "connection."
2
"Most disturbing to me and my family" -- she comes from a hateful family that taught her these views.
4
I'd be happy to see my daughter's girl-scout troop being inclusive and welcoming to transgender kids. On the other hand, if I found out there were kids in her troop organizing what amounts to a parent sanctioned bullying campaign, I'd be apoplectic.
5
I love GSUSA and this girl just convinced me to buy a few more boxes this year.
I'm not that big a fan of the cookie sales for some of the reasons she lists in the video (most of the money goes to the larger group, instead of the troop), but that's why I alway donate a little more money to the girls I buy from, so the troop and organization can benefit.
I'm not that big a fan of the cookie sales for some of the reasons she lists in the video (most of the money goes to the larger group, instead of the troop), but that's why I alway donate a little more money to the girls I buy from, so the troop and organization can benefit.
6
Yeah, her source was some Baptist magazine, so chances are she got her attitudes from her family.
Also, the way she overenunciated "quote" and "endquote" was really annoying. The superiority and anger in her voice was kind of astonishing.
Personally, I admire the Girl Scouts for recognizing that not all girls come in female bodies. Transgendered girls might not have the same parts, but they have more in common with biological girls than they do with biological boys.
Also, the way she overenunciated "quote" and "endquote" was really annoying. The superiority and anger in her voice was kind of astonishing.
Personally, I admire the Girl Scouts for recognizing that not all girls come in female bodies. Transgendered girls might not have the same parts, but they have more in common with biological girls than they do with biological boys.
7
She’s a true pride of GSA (and I’m not being snarky).
Sure, her beliefs are based on myth and her family has allowed her to misunderstand (through their own ignorance?) this issue, but look: she’s made a decent presentation, she’s done some research (though maybe not into the right subjects), she’s stated her views and goals, she’s developed a plan and she’s started a boycott.
I think this is great for her. She will one day, I hope, grow in her understanding. I hope she doesn’t attend a religious college but instead is exposed to the people she fears at a state school and realize that there’s nothing to fear.
I hope my own girls will be as proactive as this girl is (only, holding my own personal beliefs… if god exists, he’s going to punish me with conservative kids). She’ll grow up, she’ll learn - if shown patience. If she receives hate over this (which she will), she’ll be able to say that she’s being persecuted for her beliefs and she’ll probably head further into religion.
Sure, her beliefs are based on myth and her family has allowed her to misunderstand (through their own ignorance?) this issue, but look: she’s made a decent presentation, she’s done some research (though maybe not into the right subjects), she’s stated her views and goals, she’s developed a plan and she’s started a boycott.
I think this is great for her. She will one day, I hope, grow in her understanding. I hope she doesn’t attend a religious college but instead is exposed to the people she fears at a state school and realize that there’s nothing to fear.
I hope my own girls will be as proactive as this girl is (only, holding my own personal beliefs… if god exists, he’s going to punish me with conservative kids). She’ll grow up, she’ll learn - if shown patience. If she receives hate over this (which she will), she’ll be able to say that she’s being persecuted for her beliefs and she’ll probably head further into religion.
8
Perhaps this say more about me than her, but after the hate and lack of understanding regarding transgenderism, I was most disturbed by the fact she wore what is putatively her sash, but not a uniform blouse and covered what should be her troop number with duct tape.
9
I'm really curious how she's going to feel about this in 5-10 years. God knows I had some pretty stupid opinions at 14, and I would be absolutely horrified if I had made such a public spectacle of myself- especially in this day in age when doing so may very well stay with you forever.
10
Mmmmm yes, many men around the country will happily agree to verify the gender of each girl scout, daily. Just to be sure no one gets a gender change overnight, you know.
11
I for one am planning to join a church group later today. Then I will get angry when they are not secular and liberal!
12
She might want to recite the girl scout law again, remembering that she needs to respect herself and others and be a sister to every girl scout, but responsible for what I say and do wouldn't hurt either:
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.
16
You want to talk about "safety issues" and Girl Scouts, let me tell you.
I was a scout from Brownies onwards, and while I have good memories of my times as a scout, I also have memories of what was going on in Oklahoma (the state where I was living at the time) around scouting.
There was a well-known murder, of three girls, during a summer camp, that happened on the East side of the state. And in the community I lived in a scout leader killed her daughter and tried to make it look like a kidnapping.
Whenever I hear of "scout safety" I think of those episodes.
Besides, a transgendered child benefits from being able to participate in the activities as their friends (within their identified gender).
I was a scout from Brownies onwards, and while I have good memories of my times as a scout, I also have memories of what was going on in Oklahoma (the state where I was living at the time) around scouting.
There was a well-known murder, of three girls, during a summer camp, that happened on the East side of the state. And in the community I lived in a scout leader killed her daughter and tried to make it look like a kidnapping.
Whenever I hear of "scout safety" I think of those episodes.
Besides, a transgendered child benefits from being able to participate in the activities as their friends (within their identified gender).
17
I'm almost certain there is a Wacky Christian version of the the Girl Scouts. It was formed after the supposed lesbian cookie box incident sometime in the 90's or thereabouts. Why doesn't this horrid little girl just join that?
19
@9 "I'm really curious how she's going to feel about this in 5-10 years."
Given that it appears this girl's mom is Susan Chan Riedley, of HonestGirlScouts.com, I imagine those feelings will be tightly interrelated.
Given that it appears this girl's mom is Susan Chan Riedley, of HonestGirlScouts.com, I imagine those feelings will be tightly interrelated.
20
@18 My church's denomination did something similar. They separated the two boys in our age group from the three girls. The boys made wooden cars. The girls learned to sew.
I would have joined the boys group but they wouldn't hear of such a thing.
I would have joined the boys group but they wouldn't hear of such a thing.
21
I'm definitely getting twice as many boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year than normal because of this. I wish this story were posted in a more positive light, though, to encourage a reverse-boycott rather than to subtlely suggest that all Girl Scouts are awful/ignorant..
22
I looked at the website she has, they are also against sex education, think NOW is a radical organization, and want to ban gays/lesbians from the group. Their FB page is called "Make the Girl Scouts Clean Again," cause apparently having transgendered youth involved is dirty........
Whoever is really backing this is the worst, but I think after some initial outcry, most people will ignore this and just buy the cookies. I hear they are coming out with a new special cookie for the 100th anniversary, so good timing!
Whoever is really backing this is the worst, but I think after some initial outcry, most people will ignore this and just buy the cookies. I hear they are coming out with a new special cookie for the 100th anniversary, so good timing!
23
This girl has no heart. I would so love it if she was kicked out of GS for being a such a dumb bitch. I really hope reality knocks her off that high horse of hers....
I actually had no idea GSUSA was accepting of trans-gendered, and I think that is so awesome! I could really go for some Samoas right about now...
I actually had no idea GSUSA was accepting of trans-gendered, and I think that is so awesome! I could really go for some Samoas right about now...
24
The snarkiest thing she does is repeatedly refer to "transgender boys," thereby denying their gender identification. Besides that, it's confusing. (The phrase is more commonly used for F2Ms.)
In her quest for the "100% girls," I hope she finds out about XY girls and her head explodes. These are apparent-born girls who have the chromosomes of a boy and are often missing key baby-making parts, usually not discovered until their mid-teens, when menarche passes them by.. Even in the somatic realm, fetal sexual development is complicated and not everyone gets dealt a perfect hand.
I wonder if GS values are supposed to include compassion. If so, she should probably quit now, 'cause she ain't got any.
In her quest for the "100% girls," I hope she finds out about XY girls and her head explodes. These are apparent-born girls who have the chromosomes of a boy and are often missing key baby-making parts, usually not discovered until their mid-teens, when menarche passes them by.. Even in the somatic realm, fetal sexual development is complicated and not everyone gets dealt a perfect hand.
I wonder if GS values are supposed to include compassion. If so, she should probably quit now, 'cause she ain't got any.
25
I'm not so sure this girl is being hateful. I doubt that's where she's coming from. She seems uneducated about what it is to be transgendered, and I'm guessing she probably hasn't met any trans-girls or trans-women.
Obviously what she's arguing for is going to be hurtful to the transgendered kids who want to join girl scouts, but I doubt that's what she has in mind. I'm impressed such a young kid has such a sound understanding of the general benefits of gender segregation. I imagine it's not going to win her any street cred at her age.
She clearly sees transgendered girls as simply boys playing at being girls, and so if she saw them as girls, I have no doubt she'd welcome them, because keeping girls scouts all girls is what she's all about.
I wish this argument wasn't so polarised, because it's not black and white. We need to be sensitive to the trans-kids, and not exclude them or force them into the wrong camp, but where we draw the line is unclear. If a male born child is identifying as a boy 40% of the time and a girl 60% of the time, and with no aspirations to become 100% a girl, should a girls only group be expected to let them in? Should we loosen up on sex segregation in order to be inclusive of people who are not comfortable in either camp? Studies have shown that girls perform better academically in all girl environments.
Watering down the gender segregation in these groups is going to hurt trans girls as much as the female born girls, and the people fighting to keep that separation are never going to be very popular.
Obviously what she's arguing for is going to be hurtful to the transgendered kids who want to join girl scouts, but I doubt that's what she has in mind. I'm impressed such a young kid has such a sound understanding of the general benefits of gender segregation. I imagine it's not going to win her any street cred at her age.
She clearly sees transgendered girls as simply boys playing at being girls, and so if she saw them as girls, I have no doubt she'd welcome them, because keeping girls scouts all girls is what she's all about.
I wish this argument wasn't so polarised, because it's not black and white. We need to be sensitive to the trans-kids, and not exclude them or force them into the wrong camp, but where we draw the line is unclear. If a male born child is identifying as a boy 40% of the time and a girl 60% of the time, and with no aspirations to become 100% a girl, should a girls only group be expected to let them in? Should we loosen up on sex segregation in order to be inclusive of people who are not comfortable in either camp? Studies have shown that girls perform better academically in all girl environments.
Watering down the gender segregation in these groups is going to hurt trans girls as much as the female born girls, and the people fighting to keep that separation are never going to be very popular.
26
I feel sorry for the girl in the video. I can't imagine what sort of parent would put there kid up to creating a video like that.
30
First off, I'm buying even more cookies than usual now. Second off. I would like to thank her for her informative subscripts. I didn't know boys hid puberty before the 12th grade!
31
I have never been MORE PROUD to be a Girl Scout volunteer and troop leader than the moment I read that GSUSA allows transgendered youth in Girl Scouts. GIRL SCOUTS ROCKS!
32
This poor hateful little girl. Her parents must tell her this crap every day and fill her so full of hate. I bet she wakes up and is humiliated by this video later in life. That's gotta suck.
34
She's a troll. And so is her mother, who I gather is named Susan Riedley. I'm sure her sense of Christian victimization is ever-heightened by the fact that her email's on the URL registration. Easily accessible. http://wordsfromcana.wordpress.com/2011/…
Trolls all.
Trolls all.
35
Full dox on Susan Riedley:
http://pastebin.com/QFNmkLv4
from:
https://twitter.com/#!/genderqueerh4x
http://pastebin.com/QFNmkLv4
from:
https://twitter.com/#!/genderqueerh4x
36
So, she thinks all Girl Scouts should be strip-searched and subjected to genetic testing to try to best determine their physical sex? That seems to be the obvious conclusion.
I find it odd, since when I was growing up, one of the things I knew was that the Girl Scouts did not discriminate and the Boy Scouts did. That is, Boy Scouts only took boys and only took theists.But Girl Scouts accepted all religious beliefs and technically accepted anyone - even boys, they just basically didn't join as it was a girl-oriented thing. But they were allowed to. I'll be sad if this has changed, although I expect it's more that she simply wasn't aware that Girl Scouts was always meant to be inclusive to anyone.
And I don't think she should be kicked out of her troop, because Girl Scouts is better than that. It is accepting, even when others are not. But I do hope she learns better as she gets older. I agree with the others that she is just a kid, and most of us had some views at that age that would horribly embarrass us now.
I find it odd, since when I was growing up, one of the things I knew was that the Girl Scouts did not discriminate and the Boy Scouts did. That is, Boy Scouts only took boys and only took theists.But Girl Scouts accepted all religious beliefs and technically accepted anyone - even boys, they just basically didn't join as it was a girl-oriented thing. But they were allowed to. I'll be sad if this has changed, although I expect it's more that she simply wasn't aware that Girl Scouts was always meant to be inclusive to anyone.
And I don't think she should be kicked out of her troop, because Girl Scouts is better than that. It is accepting, even when others are not. But I do hope she learns better as she gets older. I agree with the others that she is just a kid, and most of us had some views at that age that would horribly embarrass us now.
37
I used to be a Girl Scout. The troop started out with a billion or so Brownies, but by eighth grade, there were only seven of us left. On one camping trip, we were sitting up late in our tent gossiping about (what else?) boys we liked. Problem was, there weren't any boys I liked. I was at that awkward stage in my life where I was starting to realize that I liked other girls. Although I was well aware of the potential for disaster, I was so sick of pretending to enjoy talking about boys that I confessed to having a crush on a female classmate (not a member of the troop).
The conversation pretty much fizzled and died after that. Nobody took me outside and beat the shit out of me, or called me any nasty names, but it was pretty clear that my standing among my fellow Girl Scouts had plummeted precipitously. The next year, the mother who had been serving as the troop leader for the past six or seven years declined to volunteer for the position again, leaving the troop to dissolve. I never put two and two together until a few years ago, when a fellow former Girl Scout (the only one I'm still in touch with) told me that the troop leader heard from her daughter that I was queer, didn't want me in the troop but couldn't think of any way to get me kicked out, and so decided to pull the plug on the troop altogether. Apparently this was an open secret among everybody else who used to be in the troop; I never found out about it because none of them wanted anything to do with me.
I'm inclined to believe that the rumor is fundamentally true. Sometimes when I'm visiting my mother, I run into my former troop leader, and she looks at me like I'm something her dog regurgitated on the carpet, and makes barbed remarks thinly disguised as pleasantries. (Fortunately, she confines herself to subtly disparaging my intelligence and my career, rather than my sexuality, although I suspect that's largely because my mother is usually also present). At least now I know why, I guess.
I know that my former troop leader's conduct was completely out of line with Girl Scout principles, but I still can't bring myself to buy Girl Scout cookies. (It doesn't help that they're all pretty gross, except for the Trefoils, and even those are only so-so.)
Long story short: sadly, the bigoted little blister in this video is not an isolated phenomenon, even within the ranks of an ostensibly progressive organization.
More...
The conversation pretty much fizzled and died after that. Nobody took me outside and beat the shit out of me, or called me any nasty names, but it was pretty clear that my standing among my fellow Girl Scouts had plummeted precipitously. The next year, the mother who had been serving as the troop leader for the past six or seven years declined to volunteer for the position again, leaving the troop to dissolve. I never put two and two together until a few years ago, when a fellow former Girl Scout (the only one I'm still in touch with) told me that the troop leader heard from her daughter that I was queer, didn't want me in the troop but couldn't think of any way to get me kicked out, and so decided to pull the plug on the troop altogether. Apparently this was an open secret among everybody else who used to be in the troop; I never found out about it because none of them wanted anything to do with me.
I'm inclined to believe that the rumor is fundamentally true. Sometimes when I'm visiting my mother, I run into my former troop leader, and she looks at me like I'm something her dog regurgitated on the carpet, and makes barbed remarks thinly disguised as pleasantries. (Fortunately, she confines herself to subtly disparaging my intelligence and my career, rather than my sexuality, although I suspect that's largely because my mother is usually also present). At least now I know why, I guess.
I know that my former troop leader's conduct was completely out of line with Girl Scout principles, but I still can't bring myself to buy Girl Scout cookies. (It doesn't help that they're all pretty gross, except for the Trefoils, and even those are only so-so.)
Long story short: sadly, the bigoted little blister in this video is not an isolated phenomenon, even within the ranks of an ostensibly progressive organization.
38
Acceptance of diversity is why my daughters are Girls Scouts, and my son will *never* be a boy scout.
40
Hey Stranger readers (and journalists?) -
you might be interested to know that this girl actually HASN'T done her research. Bobby Montoya, the TG in Denver, has NOT been accepted into the Girl Scouts, despite their recitation of several fine sentiments when they trotted out the official policy in October.
Before you go buying extra cookies, you might want to know that GSUSA is scoring major points with those of us who believe all the media reports that Denver accepted Montoya (and who take Taylor's spewing of ignorance, fear and hate as further evidence that Montoya was accepted), and stands to profit financially (not a bad marketing ploy, considering sales have been down since the economy tanked, causing them to reduce the cookie box contents, raise the prices, and cut other flavours in an attempt to keep the profits coming every year) while NOT ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING about Montoya. How do I know? I wrote the Denver Girl Scouts myself. Amanda Kalina is the head of PR. She's assured me that they are still "working with the family" (though ABC reported back in December that Felisha Archuleta, Montoya's mother, was still waiting for a call *back* - who's waiting for contact from whom here?), and that Montoya will be accepted if she is "living her life as a girl." When I asked her to define that phrase, she literally responded with the same passage, in bold. (Let's consider, folks. What does it mean to "live one's life as a girl" at age seven? Does Montoya need to change her name? Be allowed to use the girl's bathroom at school? Or does Archuleta need to have the economic wherewithal to provide Montoya with costly hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery before Girl Scouts will accept her? Gosh, that's a neat way to rule out anyone who isn't incredibly wealthy, isn't it?)
yo, stranger staff, why isn't anyone in the media following up on this? GSUSA stands to improve cookie sales for values that they haven't actually demonstrated in practice!
More...
you might be interested to know that this girl actually HASN'T done her research. Bobby Montoya, the TG in Denver, has NOT been accepted into the Girl Scouts, despite their recitation of several fine sentiments when they trotted out the official policy in October.
Before you go buying extra cookies, you might want to know that GSUSA is scoring major points with those of us who believe all the media reports that Denver accepted Montoya (and who take Taylor's spewing of ignorance, fear and hate as further evidence that Montoya was accepted), and stands to profit financially (not a bad marketing ploy, considering sales have been down since the economy tanked, causing them to reduce the cookie box contents, raise the prices, and cut other flavours in an attempt to keep the profits coming every year) while NOT ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING about Montoya. How do I know? I wrote the Denver Girl Scouts myself. Amanda Kalina is the head of PR. She's assured me that they are still "working with the family" (though ABC reported back in December that Felisha Archuleta, Montoya's mother, was still waiting for a call *back* - who's waiting for contact from whom here?), and that Montoya will be accepted if she is "living her life as a girl." When I asked her to define that phrase, she literally responded with the same passage, in bold. (Let's consider, folks. What does it mean to "live one's life as a girl" at age seven? Does Montoya need to change her name? Be allowed to use the girl's bathroom at school? Or does Archuleta need to have the economic wherewithal to provide Montoya with costly hormone replacement therapy and sex reassignment surgery before Girl Scouts will accept her? Gosh, that's a neat way to rule out anyone who isn't incredibly wealthy, isn't it?)
yo, stranger staff, why isn't anyone in the media following up on this? GSUSA stands to improve cookie sales for values that they haven't actually demonstrated in practice!
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