Transgender Teen OK’d For American Legion Boys State With A Catch

CENTER POINT, IA — Emmet Cummings, 17, a self-professed political junkie, has for years had his sights set on attending Boys State, a summer program that promises “young men will learn more about city, county and state government in a week than they would in an entire semester of high school.”

The problem? The Iowa teen was born female and has been transitioning to male for three years.

Cummings, a junior at Center Point-Urbana High School, was initially denied acceptance by the American Legion Hawkeye Boys State executive board, which found the teen isn’t a boy — despite objections by his mother, Halane Cummings, who wrote that “he is male in every aspect except genitalia.”

The decision brought a flurry of criticism to the 100-year-old wartime veterans service organization and, ultimately, a reversal of the decision barring the transgender teen from attending the program at the Camp Dodge military installation at Johnston. It comes with a catch: Cummings will have to stay in alternative housing, not with the other attendees in the barracks, and he’s not sure he will go after all.

“I think a lot of it is going to come down to if they’re not willing to make this accessible to any trans male down the road,” Halane Cummings told INTO magazine. “He really feels that, ‘That’s all great and fine for me, but I would really feel guilty about the kid that doesn't get to go.’ ”

The initial decision barring him was “kind of heartbreaking,” Cummings told the Des Moines Register, “especially knowing there could be more transgender people who are interested in government because (the board) does not want transgender people.”

The special exception granted to Cummings may not help similarly situated teens — the American Legion doesn’t have a transgender policy, and it isn’t bound by Title IX federal rules that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.

He told The Register he is “about as much of a boy as you can get,” and questioned if the Boys State board would turn down the application of a biological male who lost his genitals.

Questions like those are bound to come up in May when the American Legion’s executive committee meets. Whether to adopt a transgender policy is among the items to be discussed, Joe Penzler, the director of media relations for the American Legion National Headquarters, told INTO magazine.

He said he’s “eager to see what the discussion is and what the outcomes are of that meeting.”

“The overall guidance to all of our posts is to work to make every accommodation, to make sure everyone has a good memorable time when they come to our youth events, whether that’s a speech contest, a youth baseball program,” Plenzler said.

Cummings, who looked into attending a Girls State program but was told it was full, is hopeful the American Legion will open up its policies.

“I hope they can change their policy so trans people can do Boys State and they don’t feel threatened about it,” he told The Register “Support transgender teens.”

Photo via Shutterstock