The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. December 29, 2016 New Jersey 8-Year-Old Challenges Boy Scouts Transgender Ban ----------------------------------------------------------- In New Jersey, an 8-year-old boy is fighting to rejoin his Cub Scout pack, after he was kicked out because he was born a girl. The case of Joe Maldonado of Secaucus appears to be the first to challenge a ban on transgender boys joining Boy Scout troops. The case follows years of resistance by the Boy Scouts of America to allow gay and lesbian adult leaders, before the organization finally dropped a blanket ban in July of 2015. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Boy Scouts said, "No youth may be removed from any of our programs on the basis of his or her sexual orientation. Gender identity isn't related to sexual orientation." .