<p>Thomas Desai, 17, was invited by two female friends to join them at their weekly session of Girl Guides, an all-girls scout group. But he was turned away at the door.<br /><br />"I made the assumption, as girls are welcome to be members of the Scouting movement, I would be welcome," the Sun quoted Thomas from Crowborough, East Sussex, as saying.<br />Girl Guides were formed in 1910 as a movement for girls in response to the setting up of the Scouts, exclusively for boys, a year earlier.<br /><br />Sixth-grade student Thomas had been invited to a meeting of the Crowborough District Rangers, the section of the Guiding movement for 14 to 26-year-old women, where regular activities include hiking, cooking, crafts, and challenges.<br /><br />"I was disgusted," he said. "My friends were surprised. They thought I would be welcome.<br />"It's not as if I was some strange person going on my own. I was with friends. They turned me away just because I was a male."<br /><br />Thomas said he had always been fascinated with Girl Guiding.<br /><br />"The values of camaraderie and friendship within the movement, as well as the various activities members undertake, appeal to me greatly.<br /><br />"I have never really had male-oriented hobbies. I'm not interested in football and rugby. I love cooking and eventually want to be a chef. I feel I can engage better with girls than boys," he said. <br /><br />In the past couple of decades, Scouts troops have been free to accept girls if they choose, but the Guiding movement has remained for girls only.<br /><br />Though sex discrimination laws allow the Guiding movement to exclude boys, but Thomas criticised the organisation's "backward ethos".<br /></p>
<p>Thomas Desai, 17, was invited by two female friends to join them at their weekly session of Girl Guides, an all-girls scout group. But he was turned away at the door.<br /><br />"I made the assumption, as girls are welcome to be members of the Scouting movement, I would be welcome," the Sun quoted Thomas from Crowborough, East Sussex, as saying.<br />Girl Guides were formed in 1910 as a movement for girls in response to the setting up of the Scouts, exclusively for boys, a year earlier.<br /><br />Sixth-grade student Thomas had been invited to a meeting of the Crowborough District Rangers, the section of the Guiding movement for 14 to 26-year-old women, where regular activities include hiking, cooking, crafts, and challenges.<br /><br />"I was disgusted," he said. "My friends were surprised. They thought I would be welcome.<br />"It's not as if I was some strange person going on my own. I was with friends. They turned me away just because I was a male."<br /><br />Thomas said he had always been fascinated with Girl Guiding.<br /><br />"The values of camaraderie and friendship within the movement, as well as the various activities members undertake, appeal to me greatly.<br /><br />"I have never really had male-oriented hobbies. I'm not interested in football and rugby. I love cooking and eventually want to be a chef. I feel I can engage better with girls than boys," he said. <br /><br />In the past couple of decades, Scouts troops have been free to accept girls if they choose, but the Guiding movement has remained for girls only.<br /><br />Though sex discrimination laws allow the Guiding movement to exclude boys, but Thomas criticised the organisation's "backward ethos".<br /></p>