A transgender boy in Secaucus, N.J., has been barred from his local Cub Scout pack because he was born a girl.
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Kristie Maldonado said that she received a call from a Scouting official a month after her 8-year-old son, Joe Maldonado, joined the Secaucus pack, telling her that Joe would not be allowed to participate, NJ.com reports.
Joe has already been accepted as a boy at his school, but an official from the Northern New Jersey Council of the Boy Scouts told his mother that other Cub Scout parents had complained.
According to NJ.com, Joe’s case could be the first one in which someone has been prohibited from participating in the Cub Scouts because he is transgender.
The Boy Scouts of America is no stranger to controversy. As NJ.com notes, after years of taking heat for turmoil over sexual orientation issues, it reversed long-standing bans against gay Scouts and gay Scouting leaders.
A representative from the Boy Scouts of America did not comment directly on Joe’s case but told NJ.com that “no youth may be removed from any of our programs on the basis of his or her sexual orientation. Gender identity isn’t related to sexual orientation.”
Read more at NJ.com.
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