Levi Haapala
Prof Parker
ENG 102
09/Mar/2016
LGBT = Girl Scout Cookie
Desired
behavior has always been rewarded with a treat and now the LGBT community has
the best reward for forward thinking; Girl Scout Cookies. In an effort to help
in its support to help little girls everywhere the Girl Scouts of America
(GSUSA) has a case by case policy for transgender little girls. Like it or not
the GSUSA is the perfect place for the transgender little girls help develop
into strong independent women, and why not? This organization has helped little
girls find out about themselves in an environment that is both mentally and
physically safe to do so. Not just the LGBT community but the every community
needs organizations to take in young boys and girls and give them strong
leaders to help shape them and to have someone to confide in that knows their struggles
as well.
Self-worth
is a hard lesion to teach children yet one the GSUSA has always strived to do despite
the opposition. One Girl Scout learned this in a rather roundabout way thanks
to a mean comment by a neighbor. Stormi, who lives in Herrin, Ill., was out on
her day going door to door selling her cookies was met by a neighbor who let
her give her sales speech then replied ““nobody wants to buy cookies from a boy
in a dress,”” (Gass). Kim, Stormis’ mom, quickly moved her daughters’ sale to
the internet with some help of the GSUSA as well as relaying the story on an
online forum for transgender parents.
Within day Stormi had received over a thousand letter
of encouragement as well as over 3000 boxes of cookies sold to include both
Canada and Australia.
This
is not the first time the GSUSA has been involved in this type of incident. In
2012 there was a national call to boycott the cookies due to the inclusion of a
7 year old transgender child to the GSUSA. The organization itself has also
been known to return checks of $100,000 due to stipulations against transgender
children (Gass). After returning this large donation the GSUSA created an
Indiegogo account, promoted it nationally with the hashtag #forEVERYgirl, and
then raised over $300,000. Sadly though the counterpart to the Girl Scouts is
struggling to redefine and even find its own way on the LGBT issues.
The
GSUSA have set a president in this day showing that forward thinking is the
right way for it helps those who get lost in this adult world. It gives compassion,
strength, self-worth, and above all belief that you are strong in your gender
or transgender. It gives the example of how those who fight on both sides of
this issue should act with integrity leadership and compassion.
Work Cited
Gass,
Henry. "For Transgender 9-year-old, a Very Girl Scout Lesson." The
Christian Science Monitor. N.p., 3 Feb. 2016. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0203/For-transgender-9-year-old-a-very-Girl-Scout-lesson>.
I had no idea that the GSUSA were behind the LGBT and all the support that they do for the community that is out there. This was such a good read that i enjoyed and learned a lot. It is so cool to hear that a community like the GSUSA supports, encourages those to be leaders, and help them find who they are on the way. Girl Scouts has been around for a long time and knowing that they support those, I was in shock and makes me love them even more! I use to be a girl scout and it was so much fun and something to that i looked forward too every week. The example that you put in your post about the rude lady who said a comment to the child made it more real and the facts that you put after really was neat and gave me an understanding about it a little more.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really didn't have any idea that Girl Scouts of America was this involved in the issue. It really is incredible to hear about their support of the LGBT community. You've got great writing skills, its always a pleasure to read your blog. Have a great weekend!
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