Joe Maldonado
Joe Maldonado
Joe Maldonado is an 8 year-old boy from Secaucus, New Jersey. [0]
Background
When Joe was born, he was born Female. Before he identified as a boy, when he was two years old, he was told by his mother that Joe was "Pretty", and Joe corrected her by saying, "No... I am handsome." Initially, his mother thought that he was just a Tomboy. Joe loved to climb trees and dig dirt to look for worms. His mother decided to educate herself about Transgender issues its complexity within society. [5]
When Joe turned seven, his mother allowed him to cut his hair, and engaged with him by introducing the concept.
She allowed Joe to come out as a boy at the start of his second grade.
Now that Joe is in the third grade, he feels comfortable as a boy saying of the say he got his short haircut: "The best day of my life."
He now plays in the recreational Basketball team as part of the boys squad. His teachers refer to him by male pronouns, and he is enjoying his life as boy. [6]
After Joe establishing a connection with his fellow friends in the boys' basketball team, he joined the Pack 87 boys scouts hosted by Immaculate Conception Church.
He enjoyed being a part of their barbecues and science projects and looked forward to the camping trips.
After about a month of Joe being an active member and being a part of the scouts' activities, his mother received a call from an official council informing her that Joe will have to discontinue his attendance in the Boys Scouts.
Parents complained about the reality of Joe identifying as a boy when he is of Female sex. In regards to the decision of being barred from the boy scouts, Joe stated: “It made me mad... I had a sad face, but I wasn’t crying. I’m way more angry than sad. My identity is a boy. If I was them, I would let every person in the world go in. It’s right to do.” [5]
The LGBT community has stated that Joe is the first person to be barred from the participation of boy scouts due to transgender identity. During much of the changes that took place within the organization of Boys Scouts of America in regards to their Gay policies and reversing the long standing ban on gay officials from participating, the transgender issue never took place. [8]
A Representative of the Boys Scouts of America stated the organization considers transgender children as a separate issue.
The Boy Scouts of America organization is not known to have rejected scouts due to gender identity prior to Joe’s case.
There at least two transgender boys who were Cub Scouts in other states.
Earlier this year, the Boy Scouts told the Associated Press that it would admit transgender children to its coeducational
programs, but not to programs that are for boys only, like the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.
The organization take a look at birth certificate to determine legal status, and therefore indirectly look at gender.