Avi Cummings, Dean Spade. June 9, 2014

Gender markers on identity documents, which are inherently discriminatory, shouldn't determine whether a student is eligible for admissions.

In 2014, women's colleges remain vibrant and relevant institutions, supported by their alumni and sought after by college applicants. Yet despite their founding missions to provide educational opportunities to people facing gender discrimination, women's colleges remain embroiled in a controversy about whether to admit women who are transgender.

More: http://time.com/2848822/womens-colleges-transgender-women/

Great article. Thanks, Olivia for posting this.

This really made something click with me. That these colleges, as well as the governmental agencies that institute restrictive policies on how gender markers can be changed, are essentially asking us to "prove it".

Prove we're trans.

Prove we're really a woman or really a man.

Prove it by getting surgery, prove it with a letter from a doctor, prove it by getting our documents changed, etc.

I see it kind of like those institutions in the past that excluded certain races from being members. Those no longer exist. In the case of these colleges it's similar but the discrimination is done on the basis of gender and sex instead of race. This practice I believe will eventually be found illegal as well.

What will it take for that to happen? A lawsuit. I believe that someone will eventually file a court case and they will be forced to begin using a person's legal definition of their gender, and they will no longer get to be capricious about who they let in. If you have an "F" on your drivers license, good enough grades, and a pile of cash you'll get in.