Another Don Lemon Trans Fail

CNN's Don Lemon and failures on trans issues are becoming synonymous these days and it's sadly getting old.  My patience is also wearing thin with these repeated fails as well.

First up, what the AP Stylebook says about reporting on transgender people:

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.   

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

Don, it's painfully obvious you need Trans 101 education ASAFP and I and a long list of transpeople are willing to break down trans issues to you.   But you need to reach out to us as well so you can get up to speed on our issues.  .  

This is from the transcript of the discussion he had on CNN concerning trans child Bobbi Montoya

***

LEMON: OK. All right. Let's move on. This story I want to talk about a lot here because I think it has garnered lots of attention, lots of talk here. Another story for parents, but for much younger kids here. A boy in Colorado wants to be a Girl Scout and was initially turned away. The mother of Bobby Montoya says, her son likes dolls and girls' clothes and wanted to join the girl scouts after seeing his sister in it. So, here's more from Bobby's mother. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FELISHA ARCHULETA, MOTHER OF BOBBY MONTOYA: I said, what's the big deal? She says, it doesn't matter how he looks. He has boy parts, he can't be a Girl Scout. Girl Scouts don't allow that. I don't want to be in trouble by parent or my supervisor.

BOBBY MONTOYA, BOY REJECTED BY BOY SCOUTS: It was like somebody told me I can't like girl stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. So is it damaging for the boy that he was turned away? Is it damaging that his mother allows him to do this?

TARTT: Absolutely.

LEMON: Is it damaging that his mom allows him or is it damaging that he was turned away?

TARTT: First of all, he should not have been allowed interest into the Girl Scouts. It's for girls. It's not for boys that want to be girls.

LEMON: Right.

TARTT: It's damaging for his mom to allow him to express at level at this young an age. Because he doesn't really know who he is. Think about it. He's not going to be accepted by boys and he's not going to be accepted by girls. So there are a number of kids now that grow up and they want to do things that girls do or boys want to do things that girls do. But the problem is, they're not old enough to really say that's who they are and identify that way.

LEMON: You know what's interesting, I just had this conversation in Arkansas -- I did a speaking engagement there. And we talked about this exact thing. I think that little boy wanted to be a princess or something for Halloween. And most of the women in the room said, yes, allow him. And most of the men said, they're too young, until he gets older and he can express himself, you know, maybe when he's in high school or in college, it's fine. But at his certain age, a parent has to be a parent. Why would dad think differently?

TARTT: Well, you know, it's that -- thing. But it's a slippery slope...

LEMON: It's not just -- because there were even gay men in the class who were saying, no, don't let him do it.

TARTT: Right. I mean, because you know how society is going to respond. LEMON: Yes.

TARTT: And that's the thing he's not prepared for. So, OK, he wants to go school. He's already talking about being teased, being bullied, not being accepted. Wait until he's older until he's really sure, this is what I want to be and then we can deal with. Because the kid is going to be what he needs to be. But at this age, he really is setting himself up for a lot of rejection. And that's the part, she can't go to school with him.

LEMON: That was the consensus from most of the guys. Thank you, Doctor Tartt.

TARTT: You're welcome.

LEMON: I appreciate your insight here.

You know, the Girl Scouts of Colorado told our affiliate KUSA that a child who lives life as a girl is welcome to join and is now working to educate the associate who rejected Bobby. But at this point, it is still not clear if the girl scouts are letting Bobby join.

Earlier Transkid Transitions Leading To Earler Trans Access Rights Fights

One of the things that continues to put an exclamation point on my comment that trans people aren't going away or back in the closet is the fact that transpeople are coming out and transitioning at earlier ages.

Instead of delaying transition until mid to late adulthood, we now have in the early 21st century transkids coming out as early as elementary school.  That means the access battles we used to see play out with the primary venue being the workplace because of those mid to late adulthood transitions now occur in elementary, middle, high school and the collegiate level with the corresponding ripple effects upon society.

If a kid transitions in elementary school, they'll now and do face transphobic bathroom issue fights at that level.  They're facing dress code wars at the high school level with transphobic school administrators or principals because they're wearing in their minds gender variant clothing or refuse to acknowledge their consistent gender presentation as the person they are now..

We also have to deal with bullying issues and as just happened in Colorado, what happens when a transgirl wants to join a Girl Scout troop or a transboy wants to join the Boy Scouts?

We've already seen battles at the high school level over homecoming king and queen courts and the differing reactions as to how it was handled pro and con.  We're starting to see school districts as a result add gender identity and expression language to their non discrimination policies and their codes of student conduct.   

The NCAA in the wake of Kye Allums and others coming out as trans collegiate athletes has already moved to change its rules to accomodate trans student athletes so trans kids who desire to do so and have the talent can compete.  Since many state high school sports associations like Texas follow NCAA rules, there hopefully will be a trickle down effect so that when these elementary school age transkids get to high school, they won't have to fight a legal battle just to play.

So far from seeing these diminish, we're probably going to see more of them until the human rights of transpeople are respected and protected by law. .

Girl Scout Troop Does The Right Thing For A Transkid

I have a lot of love for the Girl Scouts and even more so since they've been under sustained right wing attack.  The Reichers tried and failed to convert them into a conservatized anti-GLBT youth organization like they successfully did with the Boy Scouts.   

Because of the right wing hate flowing their way, I make it a point when their annual cookie drive starts to buy mass quantities of my fave cookie flavors.

So you know I didn't like what I heard recently coming out of the Denver area about a seven year old transkid there who wanted to join a Girl Scout troop like her older sister did and was denied entry by the troop leader  

Seven year old Bobbi Montoya has identified as and presented as female since age 2 with her parents approval.  She was initially denied entrance by the troop leader out of fear of 'getting into trouble' with the parents of other girls in the troop and her troop supervisor because she 'has boy parts'.

The Girl Scouts of Colorado organization says otherwise and released this statement to 9NEWS concerning the Montoya case:

"Girl Scouts is an inclusive organization and we accept all girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade as members. If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents her as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout.

Our requests for support of transgender kids have grown, and Girl Scouts of Colorado is working to best support these children, their families and the volunteers who serve them. In this case, an associate delivering our program was not aware of our approach. She contacted her supervisor, who immediately began working with the family to get the child involved and supported in Girl Scouts. We are accelerating our support systems and training so that we're better able to serve all girls, families and volunteers."

That's why I keep supporting the Girl Scouts and keep buying those cookies.   Thin mints anyone?