The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced this week that transgender boys will now be allowed to join its scouting programs.
The policy change came after a New Jersey boy had been forced out of a Cub Scout troop after scout leaders learned that he had been born a girl.
Stephen Hoitt, executive director of Seneca Waterways Council, BSA's Rochester area chapter, says gender identity has been a non-issue in New York, because it's one of 17 states that allow a child's birth certificate to be amended.
Hoitt says he doesn't know for sure if any transgender boys have joined scout troops in the five county region.
"But by the same token, we probably wouldn't have asked. We don't ask for birth certificates and we wouldn't have questioned it, so is it theoretically possible that we have several transgender boys or girls in the program? Absolutely."
Hoitt says parents have long asked if girls can become scouts, and this recent policy decision has prompted more of those calls.
He says for now, the answer is no. Some specific scouting programs, such as venturing, exploring and STEM are co-ed, but Boy Scout troops in general do not allow girls. Hoitt says there are specific reasons for that.
"One of the things that's really evident is girls develop faster than boys, so when we put them in that co-ed leadership group in between 11 and 14 years of age, girls mature faster and they become leaders of the group and the boys are sort of suppressed."
Hoitt believes the Boy Scouts of America is unique with its gender-specific rules. In Europe, scouting is co-ed.
Hoitt says he wouldn’t be surprised to see girls admitted to U.S. scouting programs in the future, but the acceptance of transgender boys will not facilitate that change.
"So you can't be a transgender boy, let's say, just for the purpose of enrolling in scouts; that would not be appropriate. That would be taking advantage of the system."
The Boy Scouts of America Seneca Waterways Council represents 10,600 scouts enrolled in 450 troops throughout Monroe, Wayne, Seneca, Yates, and Ontario counties.
