By Corey McDonald | The Jersey Journal on January 28, 2017 at 10:17 AM
Kristie Maldonado and her son, Joe — who gained national attention when he was barred from his local Cub Scouts pack because he is transgender — plan to file a discrimination complaint against the regional chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.
The complaint claims that the Boy Scouts of America’s Northern New Jersey Council, which oversees a number of local scouting troops, violated the state “public accommodation” law by kicking the Secaucus boy out of the local Pack 87 in November, a month after he joined.
The complaint, which was obtained by The Jersey Journal yesterday, is expected to be filed with the state Department of Law and Public Safety’s Civil Rights division early next week.
The complaint says that chapter Deputy Scout Executive/COO Eric Chamberlin informed Kristie that he was “simply enforcing the Northern New Jersey Council)’s policy.” Chamberlin could not be reached for comment, but Kristie Maldonado has said that she was told that because Joe was born a girl, the Boys Scouts considers that his official gender.
Kristie Maldonado initially said she was not contemplating legal action.
“It was just not worth it,” she told The Jersey Journal in December. “My last words (to Chamberlin) were, ‘You know what, then I don’t want my child in this organization.'” Reached by phone last night, Kristie Maldonado said she would discuss the complaint at a later time.
Joe, a third-grader in the Secaucus school district, was born “Jodi,” but began identifying as a boy in 2015.