Hi, all - I have mostly stayed out of the conversation below because of my own sense of self-preservation and trans identity (I am a non-binary, genderqueer transguy). My ability to do so is a position of privilege as a transguy and not doing so is an affront to my sensibilities as an ally to transwomen. Calliope Wong was on MSNBC last night. I have not watched the entirety of the interview, but I think this quote is instructive: On MSNBC, Ronan Farrow asked Calliope, who is now a sophomore at the University of Connecticut Honors College, about her thoughts on Smith citing the gender marker on her financial aid forms as a reason to return her application. Calliope responded saying that the college should not have discriminated against her based on the forms, and that she and her family were concerned that designating female on the federal forms could have led to charges of fraud. Smith later agreed to no longer determine an applicants eligibility based on gender markers used in financial aid forms. I agree that transwomen who apply to Smith should need to demonstrate that they are transwomen, whether by therapists letter or a parent letter or a letter from a school guidance counselor. To create further restrictions builds a structure that will exclude transwomen who are not white, do not have financial means, and do not have family support. To say that someone must legally be a women is to say that we get to determine who is or is not a woman, and that is simply misogyny and unacceptable.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 18:18:26 +0000
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