(Photo via Smith Q&A Facebook)
GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, announced Thursday that it has joined more than 3,000 Change.org petition signers and student organizers at Smith College to call for an end to the school’s policy that unfairly rejects the admission applications of some transgender women. That petition is available here.
In March, Smith denied admission to Calliope Wong because the gender marker on her FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Financial Aid) form did not match her stated gender identity of female. Despite Smith’s reputation for being inclusive, this policy turns a blind eye to the many complications and challenges trans people – especially youth – sometimes face when attempting to correct gender markers on personal identification documents.
“To me, the inclusion of trans women at women’s colleges is a feminist issue. Trans women experience misogyny on multiple levels, making it all the more important that they have access to affirmative women’s spaces like Smith,” said Smith Q&A member and student Elli Palmer.
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