Girl Scouts return $100,000 donation that ‘can’t be used to support transgender girls’
The Girl Scouts of Western Washington returned a huge donation after being told it could not be used to support transgender children.
The gift of $100,000 (£63,630) would have been quarter of their annual fundraising goal and, naturally, a cause for celebration in the offices of the organisation.
But then they received a note from the donor, who they have not named, which said: “Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can’t, please return the money.”
Girl Scouts groups across the United States have come under fire for welcoming and supporting young transgender girls, but most have defiantly continued to do so.
Council CEO Megan Ferland said the note immediately made their joy turn to sadness. She had been at the centre of the discussion over a trans girls place in the Girl Scouts in Colorado, when the girl had initially been denied entry, and Ms Ferland made the effort to find the girl a place.
So Ms Ferland returned the money. She told Seattle Met: “Girl Scouts is for every girl, and every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to.
“Every girl that is a Girl Scout is a Girl Scout because her parent or guardian brings her to us and says, ‘I want my child to participate,’ and I don’t question whether or not they’re a girl.”
The group have set up an Indiegogo fund to try and make back the $100,000 they were forced to return.
Ms Ferland goes on: “This is the right thing to do, so there was not anything else to do other than return the gift.
“And we need the $100,000 back so we can serve more girls. So we’re going to do everything we can to raise that money. And if it raises a ruckus, it raises a ruckus.”