I have been an unofficial member of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for nearly 15 years and try my best to live by the Scout Oath and Law. On February 1, 2019 - 478 days after the announcement that the BSA would soon allow girls to join - I was finally permitted to become an official member of the new Scouts BSA. I have done all the work to earn the highest rank - Eagle Scout.

Sadly, the BSA leaders - including Chairman Jim Turley - continue to promote policies of gender discrimination against girls by refusing to even consider us for the rank of Eagle Scout until October 2020 and further requiring us to graduate in a segregated "female class". Male Scouts do not have to wait until October of 2020 to earn the Eagle Rank, nor are they forced to graduate in a "male class". When the BSA allowed gay boys to join, they were also not required to wait, or to graduate in a "gay class". Such a policy would have been discriminatory and unacceptable. I did not cut any corners in earning the Eagle Rank and the BSA leadership should not make me wait until October and then place me in a "class" segregated by gender. Tell the BSA leadership it is not okay to discriminate against girls.

Why did it take your Boy Scout leadership eight months to revoke the membership of an honor society, Order of the Arrow, adult leader who was Cyberharassing me?

I am committed to building the new Scouts BSA but we need your vocal support to be free from discrimination and harassment.

When I first met with the BSA Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh, he encouraged me to keep earning Rank and Merit Badges. Mr. Surbaugh even said that I could be the first female Eagle Scout.* I viewed Mr. Surbaugh as a mentor. I did the work. I earned Merit Badges and Rank Advancement. I completed my two Eagle Projects. I was even elected Senior Patrol Leader of my Troop.

After my family complained of the cyberharassment posted on Facebook by one of your honor society BSA adult leaders, instead of immediately removing the Scout leader, BSA President Jim Turley told me that all my work will not count. Only when my elected leaders, including Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, scheduled a press conference to address the cyberharassment and discrimination I had experienced, did the BSA leadership finally revoke the membership of the BSA adult leader-cyberbully.

Young women demonstrated enormous leadership in pushing the BSA accept girls into the program. Because of this, girls will rise through the ranks and become Eagle Scouts alongside the best of the boys. Please end the discrimination and retaliation against young women - NOW.

If the new Scouts BSA intends to help young women feel welcome, there can be no tolerance for Harassment and Bullying.

CEO Mosby and Chairman Turley, young women and their families must have a safe Scouts BSA program, free from discrimination or harassment. I want your families to feel safe. Given my experience in your program, I do not believe young women and girls will feel safe.

Send an email to CEO Roger Mosby and Chairman Jim Turley, respectfully telling them that girls have worked just as hard for recognition and deserve to the same Rank Advancement and Merit Badges opportunities as boys and to speak out against harassment. Of course, we must be permitted to earn the Eagle Rank now. Please send to all email addresses: roger.mosby@scouting.org; effie.delmarkos@scouting.org; pr@scouting.org; myscouting@scouting.org; communications@scouting.org

#ScoutHerIn #LetSydneyInNOW #CatalystInc #MeToo #genderdiscrimination #feminism #MeToo

*There already are female Eagle Scouts.