OPINION
February 10, 2012
Transgendered Girl Scout met with opposition
"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," says 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 nev4y-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," says
St. Louis.
Those who have been boycotting Girl
Scout cookies include a teen Girl Scout Imown
publicly only as "Taylor," who is involved
with a group known as HonestGirlScouts.
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 a seven-year-old's
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
to be themselves.
Letter te the Editor
SOPA article misses crux of the debate
ARTICLE MISREPRESENTED WHAT THE INTERNET WOULD
BECOME IF SOPA AND PIPA WERE PASSED
I was pretty disappointed by the opinion piece titled
"SOPA and PIPA not popular, but needed." The piece
misses the crux of the debate. The problems with SOPA
and PIPA are not that they censor free speech (they do);
the issue is that they give the government the power to
shut down any website that violates copyright, including
(here's the important part) any website that links to
copyrighted content. There's a reason Google, Wikipedia,
Reddit, and Twitter opposed SOPA/PIPA, and it's not
about free speech: if they aren’t free to link to content,
they don't function. Wikipedia and Reddit blacked out
their websites in protest of SOPA/PIPA, but also to
demonstrate what the Internet will be like if the bills pass.
Think about it. What does Google do? It provides links to
websites! I m frustrated that the piece condemns as "not
normal" for Wikipedia to blackout its website to educate
people about the problems with SOPA/PIPA, yet does
not bat an eyelash at the huge sums the entertainment
industry is spending to protect its profits by lobbying for
these bills.
My other issue with the piece is the cursory description
of the group called Anonymous." The piece makes no
effort to inform the reader about the group beyond their
hacking activities, but two minutes of research is all you
need to find out that the group is the pseudonym for
users of a website called 4chan.org, which is by no means
a legitimate organization. Instead, the piece lumps 4chan.
org in with Wikipedia, Google, and other legitimate
organizations — and then blames all the opponents of
SOPA/PIPA for 4chan's hacking! This is the equivalent
of anger at all Muslims for the actions of al Qaeda; it's
insulting and wrong to consider al Qaeda as existing on a
spectrum with all Muslims, as if Islam is a religion under
which people might legitimately arrive at the beliefs of
al Qaeda. I understand the weight of the comparison,
and I do not make it lightly. I simply take issue with the
carelessness with which the piece treats those opposed to
the bills.
The piece suggests that we are allowing "expedience
and convenience (to) outweigh the morality of our
actions," but by that logic, anyone who has used Google
or Wikipedia is a criminal. The crucial lesson from this
debate is that "piracy" is not so easily definable, nor is
every person who views copyrighted content without
paying for it an inherently immoral person. Moreover, do
the entertainment moguls think that if they shut down
every bit of copyright infringement on the Internet,
people will suddenly go buy DVDs and GDs of everything
they ve been downloading? Piracy will never disappear
completely, and people are not unwilling to pay for
content — they often simply need better and cheaper
access. Yet, the entertainment industry is willing to shoot
their nose to spite their face, and take much of the Internet
with them, in a misguided attempt to protect "intellectual
property." Who loses? We do.
Damian Morden-Snipper
Staff Editorial
The Guilfordian
works to represent
all Guilford
students
Take a look at the front page of The
Guilfordian, and you might see an article
about student activists joining the Occupy
movement in Greensboro. You might
read about the proposed amendment to
North Carolina's constitution that would
ban same-sex marriage and benefits
to unmarried couples. You might find
a summary of changes to on-campus
facilities or policies. Or you might find an
article about a local bar.
The Guilfordian has worked, for
the last 98 years, to report on news,
events and issues that are relevant and
important to our student population. We
pride ourselves on varied and detailed
coverage of the entire college experience,
starting with Guilford Orientation and J
ending with graduation weekend. I
Twice in the past two months, articles |
about local bars have been featured at
the bottom of the front page of the
paper. While some may think that it
is irresponsible of The Guilfordian to j|
publish articles such as these, it should 4
not be seen as The Guilfordian promoting i
certain behaviors, such as drinking, j
Rather, we are giving an accurate account \
of what Guilford students experience.
Guilford students are activists. ^
Guilford was ranked by Newsweek as ^
one of the top schools for social activism |
in the country in 2008.
Guilford students are accepting.
Inside College lists Guilford as one of
the top schools for "tolerant of differing
opinions" as well as one of the top for
students needing a second chance."
Guilford students are involved. With
over 40 student organizations as well as
intramural and intercollegiate athletics,
Guilford makes it easy for students to ^
participate in any activity they are called I
to.
Guilford students are world travelers.
Recent expansions to the Study Abroad
program increased study abroad offerings
to over 300 locations around the globe.
Guilford students are partiers. The
Princeton Review ranked Guilford 16th
in the nation for potheads.
Guilford students are multi-faceted.
As you can tell, Guilford students do not
fit in any mold-and why should we?
Our core values call us to embrace our
similarities as well as our differences
I creating a community of unique
individuals. The Guilfordian celebrates
the many aspects of Guilford life, which
includes drinking on the weekends as
much as on-campus events.
Refleqing Guilford College's core Quaker values,
THE TOPICS AND CONTENT OF STAFF EDITORIALS ARE CHOSEN
THROUGH CONSENSUS OF ALL 16 EDITORS.