An eight-year-old transgender boy
claims he was kicked out of the Cub Scouts because of his gender
identity.
The North
Jersey Record reported that Joe Maldonado, who decided to
start living as a boy last year, was asked to leave Pack 87 in
Secaucus in November, only a month after he joined the program.
Joe's mother Kristie Maldonado told the
paper that his classmates accepted his son and that none of his
fellow Scouts had asked him to leave.
“Not one of the kids said, 'You don't
belong here,” she said, adding that complaints from parents led to
the expulsion.
The Boy Scouts of America ended its ban
on openly gay Scouts in 2013. Last year, it agreed to allow openly
gay adults in the organization.
“No youth may be removed from any of
our programs on the basis of his or her sexual orientation,”
spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said in a statement. “Gender identity
isn't related to sexual orientation.”
This is believed to be the first case
in which a transgender Scout has been rejected by the organization.