Girl Guides has sparked a trans row after publishing an interview with the parents of a child who began ‘living as a girl’ from the age of five.
The largest organisation for girls in Britain boasted of its ‘trans inclusive’ credentials as it told the story of ‘Rainbow’, one of its newest ‘Brownies’, in its summer magazine.
In the article, available online, parents Jane and Mike – not their real names – explain that when their child was born, they ‘assumed she was a boy’, before she began ‘identifying more with female characters, toys and books when she was 18 months old.’
The article was shared on Twitter, where it divided opinion.
Maya Forstater, director of the Sex Matters group that has been supported by the author JK Rowling, refused to recognise the child as a girl.
She said: ‘This from Girlguiding is such dangerous, reality-defying nonsense. A feminine little boy who likes to wear dresses may well grow up to be a gay man. He is not a girl.
‘The idea that a five-year-old knows their ‘true gender’ and should be socially transitioned and affirmed as being the opposite sex is extreme gender ideology, not cautious care.’
Some followers of Ms Forstater agreed with her, branding the piece ‘madness’, ‘dangerous’ and ‘bizarre.’
Others were more supportive, however, as one wrote: ‘Thank you for drawing my attention to this WONDERFUL trans-inclusive article on the Girl Guiding website.
