On Friday, which is Inauguration Day, 75 Girl Scouts will participate in the Inaugural Parade for President-Elect Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. Members of the Girl Scouts of Nation’s Capital council have participated in every inaugural parade for the past 100 years.
But many members and supporters of the Girl Scouts past and present are not having it.
Right now, comments are flooding the organization’s Facebook page, expressing hurt, anger and dismay that the organization would participate in the activities surrounding Trump’s inauguration. This is all especially given the group’s long-time history of empowering young women and promoting inclusivity and tolerance — and Trump’s own history of denigrating women, including accusations of sexual assault against him, and recorded sexist comments he’s made about women.
In the meantime, a MoveOn.org petition asking the Girl Scouts of America to not participate in the Inaugural Parade in the name of not “normalizing racism, misogny and fascism” has already garnered close to 150,000 signatures.
A representative of Girls Scouts of America tells Teen Vogue that the scouts participating in the parade are doing so on a complete voluntary basis, and their participation was signed-off on by their parents.
In a statement, the group says:
““We are a girl-led organization. Girl Scouts are voluntarily
marching in both the 2017 Presidential Inaugural Parade, and the
Women's March on Washington and similar events in communities across
the country. All girl participation is voluntary, and the girls choose
what they do and do not participate in. Girl Scouts of the USA is a
non-partisan non-political organization. For over 100 years Girl
Scouts has been a home for all girls, regardless of their beliefs,
background, or personal politics. Being truly non-partisan means that
we keep our focus on the girls. It means that we go where they lead.
It means we can no more turn our back on 75 girls who have chosen to
participate in the peaceful transition of power any more than we can
on the thousands of girls participating in Women’s Marches the next
day.”
Furthermore, on their website, the Girl Scouts have written the following to clarify their participation in the inaugural festivities — and also their participation in Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington — saying, “Advocating for change on issues one cares about isn’t at odds with participating in a century-long tradition that represents the peaceful exchange of power.”
“At Girl Scouts, our Movement is made up of individuals who hold
political beliefs and convictions as varied as our nation itself. And
because every girl has a home at Girl Scouts, every girl in our
Movement is allowed her own ideas, opinions, beliefs, and political
ideology. Our fundamental value is empowering girls to be leaders in
their own lives. By helping them build the courage, confidence, and
character to lift their voices, champion their views, and be advocates
for the issues and ideas important to them, Girl Scouts supports girls
as they become catalysts for change who strengthen their communities.
Of course, we are a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that by law
cannot take positions on political candidates or parties—and we take
this very seriously.
Girl Scouts have lent their voices to the fight for racial equality,
advocated for a clean environment, invested in those less fortunate,
and so much more. Girl Scouts also have a long history of taking the
lead to create change by engaging in civic action. Empowering girls to
forge their own paths and take action in their own lives is at the
center of everything we do.
Being a leader means having a seat at the leadership table no matter
what. It means being willing to work with whomever happens to hold
political power. It means preparing girls not to run from the face of
adversity, but to stand tall and proud and announce to the world, and
the powers that be, that they are a force to be reckoned with, and
that their needs, ideas, and views must be taken seriously. To do
otherwise is to tell girls to sit down and be quiet—and that they
don’t count.”
