On the 2nd of December Girlguiding made an announcement for their equality and diversity policy:
It is with a heavy heart that we are announcing trans girls and young women will no longer be able to join Girlguiding. This is a decision we would have preferred not to make, and we know that his may be upsetting for member of our community.
Girlguiding
This statement was made following April’s Supreme Court ruling relating to sex and gender that ruled that girls and women are defined in the Equality Act 2010 by their biological sex at birth.
Guiding have stated that this will not effect leaders.
What is transgender?
Transgender is described as a person whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. This is a reality for many throughout the UK with the following statistics.
Office for National Statistics, West Midlands Gender Identity table 2021
| Gender Identity the same as sex registered at birth (percent) | Gender identity different from sex registered at birth but no specific identity given (percent) | Trans woman (percent) | Trans man (percentage) | Non-binary (percent) | All other gender identities (percent) | Not answered (percent) |
| 93.14 | 0.26 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 6.33 |
Research from the Office for National Statistics identified that a total of 262,000 people (0.5%) indicated that their gender was different from what they were assigned at birth.
What is Girlguiding?
Girlguiding was established in 1909 by girls who refused that Scouts were ‘just for boys’. When they were established they made contributions in both World Wars by acting as messengers for confidential information for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph.
Since the opening of Girlguiding, many smaller groups have formed within the name to provide the service to Guides of all ages from 4 to 18 years old. These groups include Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers with the option to former become a leader or join the Trefoil.
When you join Girlguiding you make a promise with common themes of:
- I will do my best
- To be true to myself
- Develop beliefs
- To serve the King and my community
- To keep the Guide law
Approximately 300,000 girls have joined Girlguiding. Transgender girls were first allowed to join in 2017.
Voices of Guiding members
I was given the opportunity to be able to speak to two members of GirlGuiding with two different roles to gain an insight into their opinions on this new policy.
Young Leader and Ranger Blaze-Rose Hayward
Blaze identifies as non-binary and goes by pronouns they/them. Their role entails being a person who volunteers within the Guide unit to help run and plan activities.
When asking their opinions on this new policy of banning transgender girls and women they stated: “I feel like it’s a waste of time to be honest, being in guiding helped me come to terms with being non binary and my trans identity as a hole.”
I hate that it’s being ripped from so many other people like me without even asking if it’s what we wanted first.
Young Leader and Ranger Blaze-Rose Hayward
“I feel like it will make them less comfortable in themselves because they are being shut out for something they can’t control”.
Lastly when I asked do you think it’s important for guides to be inclusive and diverse, Blaze said:
Yes, because we literally make a promise to love ourselves and to develop our beliefs and if we cant’ even support trans people how are we supposed to be inclusive, being inclusive means supporting everyone.
Ranger and Leader in training, Libby Stevens
Libby Stevens is a leader in training with Girlguiding, she plans and runs activities for young people. Stevens is also a County Events administrator where she is on the leadership team for a midlands international trip with her role mainly being communication.
When asking Libby’s opinions on the new policy she stated: “It just makes me so upset that the society we live in now is one cruel enough to ban such a small and already vulnerable group of young girls from a charity whose core beliefs are based on inclusion and equal opportunities.
“Girlguiding for me (and so many others) was such a safe space growing up, it was a place where I felt like I had a true belonging.”
Growing up as a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself I never felt truly like I fit in at school, Guiding was the place I got to feel carefree and young, to think that has now been taken away from transgender women and girls is really upsetting.
Libby Stevens, Leader in Training with Girlguiding
Petition
Currently there is a petition to allow transgender women and girls back into Girlguiding UK run by Jenny Thompson with a current standing signatures of 28,052.
It sends the wrong message to young members and followers of the Guides, suggesting that some individuals are not worthy of inclusion due to their gender identity
Jenny Thompson, petition founder
Girlguiding has turned off commenting on their social media pages. I reached out to Girlguiding about the new policy and they directed me to their article about the announcement.