POSTED: JUNE, 1996 -- On May 17, Girl Scout assistant troop leader Georg-Anne
Duval was terminated by New Hampshire's Swiftwater Girl Scout Council for
speaking out about the liberal feminist agenda apparently being promoted
throughout much of the Girl Scout organization, locally and nationally.
This development was the culmination of a long-standing battle between the
organization and a couple of out-spoken leaders regarding the Girl Scout's
promotion of sex education, abortion, and the gay agenda under the euphemism
of "diversity and tolerance".
Mrs. Duval's problems began when she became aware of what she considers
a liberal social agenda burgeoning in recent years within the Girl Scouts
USA (GSUSA) movement. She had begun to chronicle this trend in letters to
fellow church leaders and was about to give a public presentation on this
subject when she was abruptly terminated this spring.
In her outline, Mrs. Duval points out how Girl Scouts USA, which at one time
was an organization promoting traditional, mainstream values in young girls,
had been co-opted by many special interest groups (including Planned Parenthood)
into promoting and advancing many aspects of radical liberal feminism.
According to Duval, this direction began in 1974 when the Girl Scouts USA
introduced a "to be a woman" badge. This action prompted the Archdiocese
of Philadelphia to pull its sponsorship of 334 troops in it's area, and
the program was subsequently dropped.
Next, in 1977, radical feminist author Betty Freidan, who was on the Girl
Scout USA Board of Directors, stood in full support of the equal rights
amendment and apparently used her GSUSA platform as one of her pulpits to
do so.
Duval further chronicled how in 1989, a program titled "Decisions for
Your Life-Preventing Teenage Pregnancy" contained the following language:
"be it resolved, with the help of community resource consultants, sex
education will be a program component of Girl Scouts".
Duval explained that these "community resource consultants" ended
up being Planned Parenthood representatives in some areas (including Manchester
by the Swift Water Girl Scout Council).
Duval then charges that in 1993, the sex education program was further refined
"according to community norms" (GSUSA - What We Stand For, page
22). In addition, the use of the word "God" in the Girl Scout
USA pledge became optional in the interest of "flexibility of wording".
Duval states the current trend in Girl Scout USA philosophy is heavily bent
toward atheism, lesbianism, abortion, and birth control. She points out
that GSUSA will no longer take a position against lesbianism, despite the
fact that its female leaders are working with young girls (as young as age
5 in some cases), and in fact have issued statements such as "...we
also wish to be proactive in a growing climate of prejudice and intolerance
of diversity...", language which was presented in the last leader training
session that Duval attended on April 1.
Duval feels many of the topics being discussed in the Girl Scout USA manuals
are not age appropriate. For instance, she says in a junior girls manual
(ages 8-11) there is a section on "relating to boys".
In it, material appears such as: "...Ten year old Sonia giggled. She
told her best friend Sarah about how she walked from the top of the stairs
as her older sister and boyfriend kissed on Saturday night. You know, those
long with-no-time-out-for-breathing kisses...".
Despite assurances from the leadership that Girl Scout USA is not promoting
abortion, Duval contends that when she made known her pro-life viewpoint,
she was told that these were her personally held "religious" beliefs,
and as such they were not to be shared with anyone else.
Duval also points out that in the Senior Girl Scout Handbook, which is for
high school level girls (ages 14-17), such topics as resolving the conflict
of ending a pregnancy are discussed. Also, the conflict of supporting a
decision to pull a life support system from a dying relative is also discussed,
reflecting the current anti-life, pro-death, values clarification sentiment
found in radical, activist feminist circles.
Duval suggests thousands of unsuspecting churches across the country are
sponsoring Girl Scout USA programs. She believes most would be shocked and
offended to find that such viewpoints - which are so contrary to many of
their religious beliefs - are being taught and promoted under their auspices.
As for her termination from New Hampshire's Swiftwater Girl Scout Council,
it appears Duval's decision to speak out publicly on these matters at a
N.H. Christian Coalition chapter meeting was what brought it on.
This meeting was held on May 20. On May 15, Duval received a letter from
a lawyer representing the Swiftwater Girl Scout Council.
In a strongly worded (meant to intimidate?) letter, the attorney told Duval
that she was not to speak on behalf of Swiftwater Girl Scout Council or
Girl Scouts USA on her "...unauthorized interpretations..." of
these GSUSA policies. He also told her that in his opinion she was in breach
of her leader appointment agreement (an agreement that leaders must sign
with the GSUSA). He also accused her of having "...recklessly mischaracterized
policies and goals of the Girls Scouts...".
On the same day that this letter was mailed to Duval, the Swiftwater Girl
Scout Council circulated a letter to all Manchester Girl Scout leaders warning
them that "some Manchester Girl Scout Leaders, parents, and church
leaders have recently received letters attacking Girl Scouting, specifically
suitability for membership in regard to acceptance of God and our appointment
procedures for volunteers".
They then go on to explain their position on these issues and include the
fact that they do not discriminate on the basis of "...sexual orientation
in recruiting girls and selecting adult volunteers...". (their words).
On May 17, Duval received a letter from Swiftwater Girl Scout Council terminating
her as a Girl Scout Assistant Troop Leader, effective on that date.
It is obvious from the Girl Scout USA materials that we reviewed that the
militant feminist stamp is all over it.
Some of the "Famous former Girl Scouts" cited in their manual
reads like a Whose Who of militant feminism, including ultra-liberal U.S.
Senators Carol Moseley Braun and Barbara Mikulski, radical feminists Gloria
Steinem, and the one and only Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Many conservative groups come under attack by liberals for their "hidden
agendas" and "intolerance", but the heavy-handed censorship
practiced by the national and New Hampshire Girl Scout organizations against
a person for merely voicing concerns about them is astonishing, particularly
when all Duval had done was quote and distribute their own material (which
includes an encouragement to Leaders to "widely distribute" it.)
What are the Girls Scouts trying to hide? They claim a goal of asking people
to "...Join with us as we change the world one girl at a time...",
but one must apparently not dare to ask "change it into what?"
Think about that the next time you consider buying some of their cookies.
Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood link probed --Posted on WorldNetDaily.Com -- March 12, 2004
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