Girl Guides of Canada made a landmark announcement this week. In a move that continues their long-held tradition of inclusivity and diversity, they are welcoming transgender girls with open arms! This includes girls from age 5, at the Sparks level, right through to adult volunteer Unit Guiders. Along with the announcement came the release of their Guidelines for the Inclusion of Transgender Members.
The new resource guide is intended to help Unit Guiders understand the needs of transgender children so they can have a positive experience as a Guider, as well as information leaders may require to understand fellow Unit Guiders, a position also open to transgender women now.
GGC prides themselves on providing guiders a safe environment that invites girls to challenge themselves, find their own voice and make a difference in the world. This new guideline allows even more girls to experience the positivity and inspiration that guiding can provide.
Pamela Rice, Chief Commissioner of Girl Guides of Canada is pleased with the new resource.
As an inclusive organization, we are committed to supporting an environment where all girls and women feel accepted, respected and empowered. I applaud the overwhelmingly positive response our members have had to this new resource.
Specific topics addressed in this document include letting the child decide if they want to use the same bathroom as their peers or a separate bathroom for their comfort, camping privacy, respecting pronoun and name choices, respecting their privacy to be out within the group but not in public, how to talk to guiders about these topics and more.
Prior to public release the resource was released to adult members of GGC and with more than 90,000 members across Canada it was met with pride and enthusiasm. GGC says their sister organizations around the world were equally as enthusiastic about this guideline, which indicates that this change could soon spread throughout other Girl Guide organizations around the world.
