“There are as many different ways to be a girl, as there are girls–differences related to race, class, religion, national origin, language, disability and so on,” said Cole Thaler, Lambda Legal’s former Transgender Rights Attorney. “Having a transgender history or not is just another example of this wonderful variation and diversity.”

The recent choice of a Colorado Girl Scouts troop to allow seven-year-old Bobby Montoya, a transgender girl, into the troop was a major step towards transgender equality. Historically, transgender people have been treated as dangerous and deceptive.

In the words of John St. Louis, Guilford student and self-identifying gender-queer femme, the Trans community has been looked upon as “a scourge that has been lurking in the dark.” Because of this stereotype, there are people who continue to antagonize this newly trans-friendly Girl Scout troop by boycotting the famous Girl Scout cookies.

“(This plays into) the same narrative that seeks to leave trans-people isolated,” said St. Louis.

Those who have been boycotting Girl Scout cookies include a teen Girl Scout known publicly only as “Taylor,” who is involved with a group known as Honest Girl Scouts. She recently posted a transphobic video on YouTube illustrating the reasons why she believes the transgender community should be unwelcome in the Girl Scouts, an “all-girls” organization.

Taylor believes that it is deceitful not to notify parents and other scouts of a transgender individual in the troop.

“(Girl Scouts) don’t notify parents about what each child’s genitals look like,” Thaler notes.

The idea that it should be necessary to have the appearance of seven-year-olds genitals be known to her peers and the parents of her peers is both unreasonable and incredibly invasive. All individuals, including Miss Montoya, deserve the right to privacy.

Taylor also defends her desire for a cisgender-only Girl Scouts organization  —  meaning exclusive to those whose gender and birth sex match — by claiming that a cisgender girl would be unable to identify with a transgender girl.

“There’s totally going to be real differences, but there are also real differences between cisgender girls, there are real differences between different kinds of trans-girls.” explains St. Louis. “The notion (of) the (model) cis-woman identity and the (model) trans-woman identity and that they’re opposing and unrelatable is a joke.”

In my experience, just because someone else has the same sexual organs as me does not mean that I will be able to relate to them. I have had more close female-bodied friends than male-bodied.

Relating to people is certainly not dependent upon what is in one’s pants.

One cannot attend a Girl Scout meeting and expect each individual in the room to be able to perfectly relate to one another.

It is unfortunate that seven-year-old Montoya has already met opposition in the form of transphobia and gender normative exclusion. However, this Colorado Girl Scout troop’s decision and Bobby’s story gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction, promoting equality among both transgender and cisgender individuals.

I encourage other Girl Scout troops —and even Boy Scout troops — to engage in the global conversation on transgender inclusion and rights, so that young people nationwide may find acceptance among individuals of the same gender, regardless of sex. I have faith that this event will encourage more change and allow people like Bobby across the nation and the world.