US women’s university to open doors to trans women
Smith College in Massachusetts will admit trans women for the first time this September.
The prestigious university in Northampton has announced it is now open to applications to all self-identified women, including transgender women.
It had previously come under fire for refusing the application of a trans woman because she was listed as male, and unable to change her legal gender in her home state.
According to Daily Hampshire Gazette, President Kathleen McCartney said: “It is a historic moment.
“I feel proud of the decision we’ve made. We are proclaiming that trans women are women.
“That feels like an important moment from a civil rights perspective.
“Our conceptions of gender are changing rapidly.”
A letter from the board of trustees announcing the decision said: “The mission of Smith College is to educate women of promise for lives of distinction.
“In the years since Smith’s founding, concepts of female identity have evolved. Smith alumnae have been leaders in the movement to afford women greater freedoms of aspiration and self-expression.
“At the same time, educational settings in which women are central remain powerfully transformative.”
