Child abuse.

I was the only girl from a family full of boys. Growing up in a very rural part of North Carolina, left to our own devices for most of our days, we had to find our fun where we could.

BB guns, climbing trees, snake hunting through the woods (when it was warm enough), exploring, in general – these were the things that occupied my brothers’ time. Because I hated to be left out, quite often, I tagged along.

I was a tomboy, mainly because of the heavy male influence all around me.

What I never was, at eight years old, was a boy.

I was then, and I am now, a female. I grew out of the tomboy phase, because nobody treated it as anything unusual. Nobody tried to force their twisted view of gender fluidity on me (not a thing, by the way) and I was never used as a pawn to force those around me into some form of biology-bending social engineering.

Unfortunately, there is a little girl in New Jersey today whose mom wants to be in the newspapers or on TV, and she’s decided to do that by taking something that may be just a simple case of tomboy-itis (if that) and subjecting her daughter to media scrutiny, legal wrangling, and a lot of adult subject matter that kids deserve to be shielded from.

The little girl is going by the name of “Joe” and her mom enrolled her in the local Boy Scouts, knowing she isn’t a boy.

Joe Maldonado joined Pack 87 in Secaucus in October and was asked to leave about a month later, according to The Record.

“I’m way more angry than sad,” Joe said in a story published Tuesday. “My identity is a boy. If I was them, I would let every person in the world go in. It’s right to do.”

Joe was born a girl but has identified as male for more than a year. His mother, Kristie Maldonado, said Joe is accepted as a boy at school and that it was complaints from parents – not Joe’s fellow Scouts – that led to his ouster.

And those parents are right to complain. This little girl’s mother chose to subject their sons to this confusion to make a point and push a social cause, without their consent. That’s not only reckless, but it’s selfish and ignorant, to boot.

The Boy Scouts of America endured years of controversy before ultimately lifting bans on gay Scouts and leaders in recent years. But spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos said in a statement the organization considers transgender children as a separate issue.

“No youth may be removed from any of our programs on the basis of his or her sexual orientation,” she said, but added: “Gender identity isn’t related to sexual orientation.”

She declined to directly address Joe’s situation or say if there’s a written policy on transgender participants. The statement said Cub Scout programs are for those identified as boys on their birth certificates.

And this apparently hasn’t been an issue, so this little girl’s mom wants to make it one. She is using her daughter as a battering ram, and it’s obvious there has been very little thought put into the emotional well-being of the child.

And there are actually organizations that are set up to force these issues, but they only need irresponsible parents, willing to sacrifice their children to the cause.

Justin Wilson is the reprobate in charge of “Scouts for Equality” – an organization set up to help other twisted social justice warriors learn how to target children for indoctrination. He claims the there have been no cases of the Scouts turning away transgendered children, although he only knows of two cases where there are transgendered scouts (he wouldn’t say who or where).

The particular Boy Scout troop in this case is sponsored by Immaculate Conception Church, a local Roman Catholic church.

Are we getting the picture, yet?

Council executive Eric Chamberlin acknowledged calling Kristie Maldonado last month but declined further comment. He referred questions to the Scouts’ national office and said the issue involved “our membership standards.”

Earlier this year, the Boy Scouts told The Associated Press that it would admit transgender children to its coeducational programs, but not to programs that are for boys only, like the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.

The national Girl Scouts organization, which is not affiliated with the Boy Scouts, has accepted transgender members for years.

The Girl Scouts also back Planned Parenthood, which is one reason I discourage everyone with daughters from ever allowing their little girl to be exposed to this feminazi pre-training organization.

I truly feel for those who suffer from mental illness, and Gender Dysphoria is just that – a mental illness.

Statistics show an increasingly high rate of suicide for transgendered individuals, even after surgery, hormones, and all the things they claim they “feel” will make them whole.

A recent study shows 41% of transgendered individuals attempt suicide, at some point in their lives.

Some of it is a result of bullying, but a great deal more is because that grass is not always greener on the other side.

For starters, you can’t force children to accept what their natural instincts tell them is bizarre or wrong. I’m not excusing bullying, at all, but I’m saying those kids that don’t want to shower with your son, just because he wore a dress to school, they’re not wrong. It’s just how they feel.

And by your standards, aren’t feelings enough?

Secondly, it is a mental illness to deny what is clear and ironclad, such as biological certainty. Rather than ignore red flags, parents should seek competent, caring mental health solutions to set their children on the right path. The last thing they should do is try and force them into a mold, to satisfy their liberal urges.

Lastly, what’s wrong with letting nature take its course?

I didn’t stay a tomboy (although I was never really girly). I grew out of it. I married. I had a child, myself.

This little girl is not capable of getting her hair done on her own. She doesn’t buy her own clothes. She didn’t sign herself up for the Boy Scouts.

Her mom controls all of that, and she did it without her daughter’s best interests at heart. She did it to force an agenda, and somebody needs to keep a watch on that child, before her mom’s desire to get attention for herself gets out of control.