Boy Scouts Announce Inclusive Policy, While One Catholic Troop Was Already Doing So

The Boy Scouts of America have announced a new policy welcoming transgender members, a policy about which Catholic leaders have largely been quiet and which one parish appears to have already been practicing.

The Scouts announced the new policy this week, reported The New York Times. The policy says that determining a person’s gender by assigned sex at birth on one’s birth certificate “is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.” It continued:

“The Boy Scouts of America is committed to identifying program options that will help us truly serve the whole family, and this is an area that we will continue to thoughtfully evaluate to bring the benefits of Scouting to the greatest number of youth possible – all while remaining true to our core values, outlined in the Scout Oath and Law.”

So far, the only response from Catholic leaders has come from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened and disturbed” and that the policy would allow “girls struggling with gender dysphoria into their troops.” The Scouts, the statement concluded, “are becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values.” So far, neither the National Catholic Committee on Scouting nor the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has commented.

This response is not St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson’s first time attacking scouting. Last year, the archbishop encouraged Catholics to disaffiliate from the Girl Scouts based, in part, on their inclusion of LGBT members. Carlson’s responses seem to come without an effort to educate and to understand the experiences of transgender youth. He might try listening to the story of Joe Maldonado, the eight-year-old youth rejected by a regional scout council, though the local troop, housed in a Catholic parish, welcomed him.

Joe Maldonado was a Cub Scout for just a month before an official, Eric Chamberlin, informed his mother that, because Joe was assigned female at birth, he could no longer participate. NorthJersey.com reported:

“Kristie Maldonado said she was stunned because. . .his transgender status had not been a secret. But some parents complained, an official from the Northern New Jersey Council of Boy Scouts told her — even though her son had been living as a boy for more than a year and was accepted as a boy at school, she said.”

The official called Maldonado to say “only boys are allowed” in the Scouts and that some parents had complained, according to the New York Daily News. But Maldonado told the official that “my child is a boy – that’s his identity,” but the official “seemed like he didn’t want to hear it. He seemed very arrogant and cocky. It seemed like it was a joke to him.” And the call surprised Maldonado, who said Joe has not faced problems being accepted in other spaces, including at school and on a boys basketball team. About the ejection, Joe told NorthJersey.com:

“‘It made me mad. . .I had a sad face, but I wasn’t crying. I’m way more angry than sad. My identity is a boy. If I was them, I would let every person in the world go in. It’s right to do. . .How dare they judge me?. . .I don’t have to explain it. It’s the way I’m born.'”

Though Pack 87 is hosted by Immaculate Conception Church in Seacaucus, the church was thankfully not involved in the decision to expel Joe:

“A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark said it had nothing to do with the Boy Scouts’ decision, and the pastor of the church just recently learned of it. He declined further comment.”

Maldonado’s expulsion is thought to have informed the Boy Scouts somewhat surprising decision to welcome transgender youth. Under the new policy, this painful incident may hopefully be the last. Catholic leaders would be wise to continue refraining from comment, avoiding the damage their harsh language did when the Boy Scouts announced a policy on sexual orientation last year. Even better, Catholic parishes which host scouting troops should welcome transgender youth with open arms and clear support.

—Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, February 1, 2017