XXBOY REBLOGS

thisgenderedlife:

[All information included is from an individual who was present at the meeting, during which the policy was announced by administrators to the small handful of students.  I have intentionally not included the individual’s name.]

Tonight I found out that Smith College is planning to invoke a new, unofficial policy that will affect the entire student body.  No one is talking about it, because no one is being told about it.

Male-identified students will be asked to opt out of hosting prospective students.  They will be asked to act in the spirit of the Honor Code, and opt out of hosting.  Because of their identity.

Attention World. I, Sebastian Barr, am a Smith College alumnus. I am a (trans) man who transitioned at Smith. I completely support the college’s (or the admission office’s) decision (if we have all the facts correct and this is in fact a decision) to ask male students not to host prospective students.

Kai at thisgenderedlife discusses some problems with the rumored unofficial policy, some of which include issues of self-identifying and “drawing the line” which certainly would be an issue if this were ever an official policy (and I think is likely why it cannot be an official “you are not allowed” situation). He also says this (I’ve removed his emphasis -bolding- but you can read his original post here):

This new policy, which has only been shared with a small handful of students thus far, will create a hierarchy within the student body.  It limits the access of a marginalized group to rights, privileges, and opportunities afforded the rest of the student body.  It’s blatant discrimination, and it sets an extremely dangerous precedent for future generations of Smithies, as well as for the overall institution of higher education.  The Smith College administration says other schools are looking to them to set a precedent.  So I ask this of the Smith College administration:

Please do not be the first women’s college to actively display its disregard for what trans* students have to offer their campus community.  In fact, please don’t ever display your disregard for what trans* students have to offer their campus community.  Trans* students partake in many aspects of student life on campus. Do not trample their right, as students, to participate in an opportunity open to the entire student body.  They participate because they love the college and everything that it stands for.  They participate because they want to share what makes the college unique.  Don’t treat them as second-class citizens at an institution that was founded on the very principle of gender equality. 

I disagree that the decision (again if we have the facts correct and this is a decision) means everything Kai says it does (disregard for trans students, discrimination, second-class citizenry).

Frankly, I have always supported the idea that male Smith students should not host “prospies” for one main reason: These prospies are female high schools students, many of which are under 18 and, unlike at some (very few) co-ed schools with policies allowing students to host prospies of different genders, at Smith, female prospies and their parents expect that they will be staying with female students. It is an issue of responsibility to those expectations and an issue of the comfort of the prospective students and their parents. Not comfort/discomfort with the trans nature of a trans male student, but the discomfort of a female high school student staying with a male college student they don’t know. We could have a discussion about whether or not that should be uncomfortable, why it is or isn’t, etc. But the bottom line is that most families would not be okay with this and because Smith is a women’s college (and it is, by the way, despite its gender diversity) there is a rightful assumption that women will be hosting these other women.

The admissions office decision is old-fashioned at the worst. I truly don’t think it is based in transphobia, as they have willingly allowed (and even encouraged) transgender gold key members (tour guides) - see screenshots below. And I truly don’t think it is a bad decision.

I am concerned that the negative focus some students and alums are placing on this issue will take away from the fact that Smith is actually pretty wonderful to its male population. Though its PR publications often slant away from representing queer-looking students (and this upsets me), I never felt like I or my trans male peers were discriminated against. One trans guy served as the president of his class. Male-presenting students were featured in my class year’s official Ivy Day photos on Smith’s website. Et cetera.

If anything, this policy shows that Smith College affirms its transgender students’ gender identities. If they allowed male-identified (I HATE that term) students to host prospies, they would likely have to explain it to prospective students and their families, and I imagine the emphasis would be on “identified” and the overall sentiment would have to be “well all our students are female-bodied (ew hate that term too!) so really it’s not a big deal for a female prospective student to be staying with a male-identified (cringing) female student.” Thank you Smith and thank you admissions office for not falling victim to this ignorant and offensive line of reasoning. Thank you for seeing us as men, even if that means you cannot support us hosting female prospective students.

As inkhead put it, they’re treating trans male students as they would non-trans male students. “And that’s a problem how?”

I wanted to also include some additional support from other trans students and alums that I’ve found online or who have contacted me:

A trans alum:

The whole things reminds me of the Michigan Womyn’s Festival Policy. I chatted with a couple of the organizers, who’ve worked there for decades now, and they support the idea of voluntary self-inclusion or exclusion. If you think you belong there then attend— just be ready to engage in dialogue about your identity politics with other people [which is a given at the fest anyway]. I think Smith is trying to do the same thing— they aren’t banning anyone from hosting, they are simply asking the potential hosts take into account the college’s reasoning for requesting they abstain.

Plus, they are navigating Title IX, which does not understand gender-variance or transition or… well really anything about these issues. They are, rightfully I think, afraid of the slippery slope.

Finally, Smith was so unbelievably respectful and appreciative of its trans*male student leaders and representatives. […] went to the Seven Sisters Conferences as Class President, for Chrissakes. And I spoke a section of the keynote before the Board of Trustees. Hosting is about an entirely different level of comfort, intimacy and legal-navigation.

From a facebook group on this issue: