Nineteen-year-old Beatrix Jackman is making history as a member of the Scouts BSA’s inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts. While the official date on her credentials will be listed as Feb. 8, 2021 to coincide with the 111th birthday of the organization, Jackman — who is a member of the all-girl Troop 2019 in Austin, Texas — received her hard-earned certificate, medal, patch, pins and card last Thursday.
The ceremony likely made Jackman the first out trans woman to ever hold the rank of Eagle Scout in the nationwide organization.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said Jackman in an interview with Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, while bedecked in green floral PPE and a sash and an impressive amount of patches. “I’m smiling so much that my mask fell off. Thank you to everybody who has helped me along this path.”
Part of that lengthy path included her Eagle Scout project, for which she partnered with the Austin branch of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to make and distribute over 100 “self-soothing” kits for LGBT+ youth; the initiative was inspired by her experiences with dialectical behavioral therapy. According to a post on the Capitol Area BSA’s Instagram, she collected donations from Starbucks, Sephora, and Lush, encompassing candles, bath bombs, tea, chocolate, fidget toys, and more.
Jackman is a devoted long-time scout, having come out as trans to her troop in middle school, according to KXAN. At the time, she was told that her options were to continue presenting as male, do lone Scouting, or quit. Though she chose to quit, she came back in 2019 when the organization revised its membership policy to allow girls to join for the first time ever. The Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) flagship program was accordingly renamed “Scouts BSA” to signal a new era of inclusivity.
Though many might have been put off by such discriminatory treatment, Jackman said she felt it was important for her to “blaze this path so others could follow.” She is joined by 14-year-old Abby Winkelman, both of whom are the first girls in Texas to achieve the elite Eagle Scout rank, which only 6 percent of Scouts achieve on average.
This move represents a major about-face for the BSA, which faced mounting controversy over the past few decades for its anti-LGBTQ+ membership policies, which included banning gay youth until 2013 and gay leaders until 2015. Transgender Scouts, however, were banned from membership until 2017, which led to groups like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pulling thousands of members from the program.
But repealing these bans came with a major catch. Religious chartered organizations, which operate more than 70 percent of Scouting units, are still allowed to continue to “use religious beliefs as criteria for selecting adult leaders, including matters of sexuality,” per Scouting Wire, the official BSA news site.
Jackman, who is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of the Gamma Rho Lambda Tau sorority, will be honored by the city of Austin, PFLAG Austin, and Texas House Rep. Gina Hinojosa for her achievements.
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