海角大神

鈥淲e were thrilled,鈥� said Megan Ferland, Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, as she told聽Seattle Metropolitan about the day her organization received a $100,000 donation earlier this year.聽

Yet the donation wasn鈥檛 welcome for long. In late May, Ms. Ferland received a letter from the donor highlighting one condition: 鈥淧lease guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can鈥檛, please return the money.鈥�

Ferland wouldn鈥檛 name the donor, but said the organization had to reject their offer. 鈥淕irl Scouts is for every girl,鈥� she told the magazine. 鈥淎nd every girl should have the opportunity to be a Girl Scout if she wants to."聽

The pledge amounted to nearly a quarter of the council鈥檚 annual fundraising goal and was also enough to send 500 girls to camp. But Girl Scouts of Western Washington didn鈥檛 lose hope that quickly. Instead, they set up an Indiegogo聽crowdfunding campaign with the message, 鈥淗elp us raise back the $100,000 a donor asked us to return because we welcome transgender girls.

鈥�$100,000 is a lot of money,鈥� the organization stated on its campaign page. 鈥淚n fact, it鈥檚 almost a third of our entire financial assistance program for this year 鈥� and girls need this support now. That鈥檚 why losing this gift is such a big deal.鈥�

If losing $100,000 may be a big deal, regaining it in one day is an even bigger one. The organization has managed to raise nearly $150,000 at press time through their online campaign.

This isn鈥檛 the first time the Girl Scouts has faced transgender issues. In 2012, the organization made headlines when a Colorado troop rejected a seven-year old boy who identified as a girl, reports Denver鈥檚 NBC affiliate. When a supervisor heard of the case, Girl Scouts of Colorado聽sent the network the following statement, reiterating its inclusive stance:

Since then, the organization has kept its promise. It even began hosting events where Girl Scouts can learn how to become 鈥榓llies鈥� and advocate for their LGBT peers.

The Boy Scouts of America have also been leaning towards inclusivity. The organization has been accepting openly gay boys to join since January 2014, yet still bars openly gay adult men from joining as leaders, according to the Huffington Post. But in late May, Robert Gates,聽the national president of the Boy Scouts of America, said the organization鈥檚 ban on openly gay adult men from participating 鈥渃annot be sustained.鈥�

"I remind you of the recent debates we have seen in places like Indiana and Arkansas over discrimination based on sexual orientation, not to mention the impending US Supreme Court decision this summer on gay marriage," he said earlier this spring. "We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be."