Hollins ponders its own tolerance policy
The university's transgender policy stands out for its attempt to define when gender transition occurs.

By Matt Chittum

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/306645

Even coming out as a transgender person -- someone whose gender identity doesn't align with his or her birth sex -- and changing his name to make his male identity more apparent wasn't such an issue.

But as a Hollins University sophomore who wants to have his breasts removed, things are more complicated. Thompson's dream is to have the surgery the day he graduates in 2014.

If he does it a few months earlier, he can forget about graduating from Hollins.

Under a 2007 policy at the all-female Hollins, students are free to adopt a male identity. But if they also take certain further steps - taking hormones, having surgery or even a legal name change - they can finish the current semester and then pack their bags.