Mon 6 Feb 2017 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Niamh Lawless Scouts New Zealand has welcomed the decision of Boy Scouts of America to allow transgender youth to join their organisation, and says they themselves have long been inclusive of glbti people as members and in leadership positions. "Scouts New Zealand proudly welcomes "anyone regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious belief and other aspects of diversity," says Chief Executive Niamh Lawless. "The gender with which someone identifies is personal to them and we embrace that." Lawless says the Scouts, which all includes girl scouts in New Zealand, is committed to being a fully-inclusive organisation "which is also reflected in our 10 year strategy ‘Better Prepared’ where one of our five key priorities is Inclusive Growth. She says its formal inclusiveness policy, which is to be applied to all circumstances, states that Scouts New Zealand is committed to the principles of equal opportunities and will not discriminate against any member or non-member on any of the grounds prohibited under the Human Rights Act (1993). The policy additionally says all of the organisation's memberships, activities and resources are to be equally available to anyone regardless of gender and sexual orientation. And potential members" must demonstrate that they meet the membership criteria of the Association by being prepared to make the Scout Promise. The Scout Promise and Law establish that members should be considerate, tolerant and a friend to all."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 6th February 2017 - 10:42am