Quick backstory for people (I know in other countries scouting isn't gendered) who haven't heard of Venturing. So BSA has a co-ed program called Venturing for youth ages 14-21, which is great because Girl Scouts sucked. My family has been involved with scouting for about twelve years, my parents were so involved for a while that introducing myself people will "Oh, your last name is ____, you must be so-and-so's kid!" Until my parents stopped being involved my house was filled with cases of cookies in the spring and popcorn in the fall. My entire childhood was basically scouting. For a few reasons I'm considering leaving my venturing group, but even if I do, I might consider joining a different one. But I'm mostly concerned about if I were to come out as trans whether or not is be allowed to stay in the organization. Yes they lifted the ban on gay scouts, but there is no mention of transgender scouts anywhere. I've found maybe three articles mentioning that no one has talked about transgender scouts, but no one has actually talked about the matter. One of my main concerns is that if I were treated as a girl, I would have to sleep in a tent with a bunch of girls, which would make me very uncomfortable, granted at this point I wouldn't, and probably won't for a while, be comfortable in the guys' tents either... But according to BSA policy, I wouldn't be able to have a tent to myself either... And I know that I would (most likely) be treated as a girl since I generally don't pass unless I'm mistaken for a twelve year old...
I completely understand this. I was in boy scouts (amab) and it was horrible. Absolutely sucked. Eventually I just left. It caused too much dysphoria. In my mind, don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Life is too short to waste on things that we don't love. If you think joining another venturing group, absolutely do it. Just make sure you are happy man.
I'm 99% sure Boy Scouts doesn't accept transgender boys, but I'd ask someone who works with boyscouts because I'm not entirely sure.
A half-decent venturing crew wouldn't care about your orientation since you're there for scouting and not gossip and drama like I have to deal with in my troop. Venturing is co-ed, so it's not specific to any gender. And while there is nothing saying trans scouts are allowed, there's also nothing saying trans scouts aren't. Your best bet, if you wanted to stay in venturing, is to find a crew that would respect you for who you are or at least leaves you alone/doesn't care about your being trans. If you get kicked out of a crew, then move on to the next. I personally think that scouting should be gender less in the U.S., but that probably won't happen anytime soon. I know if I came out to my troop, they'd not be particularly happy about it. But at the end of the day, scouting is scouting and who you are shouldn't matter. If you look hard enough, you can probably find a crew that either won't care or will respect who you are. I mean they let the most perverted trash children, and toxic soccer moms, in scouts so why not let anyone who's LGBT have in? They're always complaining about how scouting is dying and they need more people, but what good is that if they chase the people who want in away? Know what I mean? I know that if I joined my sister's venturing crew, they'd be a little off'd by me, but they'd still respect me just as any other scout. Regarding the tents, it doesn't matter who's in it. You're not exactly spooning each other, and you're sleeping in you're sleeping bag in your corner. Plus you should try and make friends with some people to try and maek yourself feel more comfortable. Anyway, best wishes to ya'! ^-^
