Colorado 7-year-old Bobby Montoya wants what most little girls want: Dolls, My Little Pony figures and to join the Girl Scouts.
But there’s one problem: Bobby's a boy.
He said he wants to follow his sister in joining the group, but when a troop leader said it wouldn’t work out, the rejection left him devastated.
Bobby, who said he’s been bullied for looking and dressing like a girl, told KUSA-TV: 'It's hurting my heart. It hurts me and my mom both.'
His mother, Felisha Archuleta, said she allows Bobby to dress and behave how he wants to be.
Ms Archuleta told KUSA: "He's been doing this since he was about 2 years old. He's loved girl stuff, so we just let him dress how he wants.'
She added: 'As long as he's happy.'
But when she tried to sign Bobby up for Girl Scouts, she was rebuffed, and told that they couldn't let him in because he wasn't a girl.
Ms Archuleta said she was told by a troop leader that 'It doesn't matter how he looks, he has boy parts, he can't be in Girl Scouts.'
The troop leader added that she didn’t want to get into trouble by parents or her Girl Scouts supervisor.
But today, the Girl Scouts of Colorado said it made a mistake when it rejected Bobby’s application to join.The Girl Scouts issued a statement to KUSA saying that a worker unfamiliar with the group's policies gave Bobby’s family wrong information.
In a statement, the group said: '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.
'In this case, an associate delivering our program was not aware of our approach. She contacted her supervisor, who immediately began working with the family to get the child involved and supported in Girl Scouts. We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we're better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers.'
The organization said requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to support the children, their families and the volunteers who serve them.
Source:The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail...anted-join.html
Opinions????
I'm glad that Bobby got to join, I've known a couple of transgender people and I've seen how some people discriminate against them, it's disgusting. Not sure if he is transgender, but I respect the Girls Scout for the decision they chose to make!