A Massachusetts all-women college announced they are accepting transgender students, regardless of what gender they identify with.
The only type of person excluded from Mount Holyoke is men, according to the new admission policy.
Mount Holyoke defines women gender roles using the following guidelines:
- Biologically born female; identifies as a woman
- Biologically born female; identifies as a man
- Biologically born female; identifies as other/they/ze
- Biologically born female; does not identify as either woman or man
- Biologically born male; identifies as woman
- Biologically born male; identifies as other/they/ze and when "other/they" identity includes woman
- Biologically born with both male and female anatomy (Intersex); identifies as a woman
The only instance a man will not be accepted to the learning institution is if he was biologically born male and identifies as a man.
The college will not require proof that a transgender person is being truthful in their claims, but their online policy states that if the college discovers a person is being fraudulent they will be dismissed from the school.
Mount Holyoke is the second all-women school to announce the acceptance of transgender students in American history. Earlier this summer, Mills College in Oakland, Calif. was the first college to accept transgender students, reports The Global Dispatch.
Other all-women colleges are beginning to discuss gender roles at their institutions, according to Star Tribune reports. Wellesley College, located outside of Boston, plans to hold presentations this year on the topic "what it means to be a women's college at a time when definitions of gender are expanding," and Barnard College, located in New York, are reviewing transgender applications on a case-by-case basis.
