New gender guidelines
New policy to allow boys who identify as girls
GIRL Guides Victoria now allows boys who identify as girls to be members and share sleeping and bathroom facilities with girls.
A new diversity and inclusion policy means boys who have a female gender identity, or who are transitioning to be a girl, are able to be Girl Guides.
The historic organisation, which has been staunchly female-only for more than 100 years, still maintains only girls and women can be members. However, it now defines “girl” in terms of gender identity rather than biology.
This includes “persons who identify as, and live their lives as, females”.
“If you identify as a girl that’s it. You are welcome at Girl Guides,” Girl Guides Victoria CEO Amanda Kelly said.
The policy means biological males who have a female gender identity are able to be Girl Guides, but biological females who have a male gender identity may not.
It states that as an all-female organisation, Girl Guides “are no longer the right place for members who have transitioned to male” and “are not the right places for members who identify as other than female”.
The policy, which covers girls as young as five, has already been ratified by the board. “It’s not a big deal, it’s more of an explanation of what we already do,” Ms Kelly said.
The policy states that the process of “supporting and empowering girls and women, necessarily includes support for the inclusion of transgender girls and women”.
Ms Kelly said that to her knowledge “there are three girls who used to have a gender identity as a boy and who have been living in the community as girls” in Girl Guides Victoria at present.
“It came up and we realised we didn’t have a clear policy,” she said.
“There might be more as people don’t have to disclose. In one case, the girl has not disclosed that she has changed identity and we facilitated that.
“In another case, the girl was happy to talk about her transition and another has been talking to us for a number of years about living in the community as a girl.
“What the genitals are doesn’t matter; what’s important is how you are living in the community and how people represent themselves. We don’t ask any questions about operations or drugs.”
But Victoria Girl Guides does not accept those who are “non- binary/ neutral/ gender fluid” because it is an “explicitly female organisation”.
The policy guidelines say any child, including transgender girls, “may use the bathroom/change room that corresponds to their gender identity provided that they feel comfortable to do so”.
“If a youth member is uncomfortable using a shared change room, provide a nonstigmatising alternative if possible or by having a policy of girls accessing the bathroom one at a time,” the guidelines say.
“As a youth member of your unit, the girl will participate in the same activities as all other youth members of your unit. This includes sleeping in the same area as the other youth members of your unit.”
Parents whose daughters don’t want to share with a transgender girl are told this is “a form of discrimination”.
“Advise the parent that you expect all girls to behave in respectful and appropriate ways,” the guidelines say.
It also notes that a transgender girl’s body should be treated as private and questions about genitals or hormones may be “intrusive and offensive”.
It says “repeated questions about a person’s body should be considered as harassment”.
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton said she welcomed policies “that are proactive in supporting diversity and removing barriers to inclusion”.