N.J. mom of transgender 8-yr.-old rips boys group
THE FAMILY of an 8-year-old with an appetite for camping, hiking and barbecues says he was kicked out of a New Jersey Cub Scout pack because he was born a girl.
When Joe Maldonado joined Pack 87 in Secaucus in late September — his transgender identity no secret — the cherubic child was ecstatic to learn about nature and wildlife, his mother Kristie Maldonado told the Daily News Wednesday.
But a month later, Joe’s dreams of catching frogs and learning sailor knots were dashed when Maldonado received a phone call from a scouting official who said her son was no longer welcome since “only boys are allowed.”
“I said, ‘My child is a boy — that’s his identity,” Maldonado recalled. “But he seemed like he didn’t want to hear it. He seemed very arrogant and cocky. It seemed like it was a joke to him.”
Joe was born as Jodi, but has identified as male for as long as he can remember, according to Maldonado. His name was legally changed two years ago.
Maldonado allowed her son to cut his hair short and come out as a boy before he began the second grade. She said Joe is accepted as a boy at school and that it was complaints from parents — not Joe’s fellow Scouts — that led to his ouster.
“He was enjoying himself so much in the scouts,” Maldonado told The News. “So when I receive a phone call from head council, pretty much saying that he’s no longer allowed because of some of the parents, I was so angry.” The local scouting organization could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Maldonado said pursuing legal action against the local group is not off the table. “I’m at least looking for an apology or something where we can look into it and try and change the policy and try to make things right,” the mother said. Maldonado’s case is believed to be the first involving a child prohibited from participating in scouting activities because of gender identity. The Boy Scouts of America — which endured years of controversy before ultimately lifting bans on gay scouts and leaders in recent years — considers transgender children a separate issue, spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said in a statement.
“No youth may be removed from any of our programs on the basis of his or her sexual orientation,” she said, adding, “Gender identity isn’t related to sexual orientation.”
The statement went on to say that Cub Scout programs are for children identified as boys on their birth certificates.
The Boy Scouts earlier this year announced that it would admit transgender children to their coeducational programs, but not for gender-specific programs such as the Cub Scouts.
There are at least two transgender boys who are Cub Scouts, one in New York.