Standing with Trans and Non-Binary Individuals

Dear members of the Mount Holyoke community,

As many of you are painfully aware, on Sunday, October 21, a New York Times article revealed that, in a leaked memorandum, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is arguing for key government agencies—the Departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Labor—“to adopt an explicit and uniform definition of gender as determined ‘on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.' ” This proposal puts at risk the rights of trans and non-binary individuals and seeks to invalidate their identities. These changes are proposed under federal civil rights law, Title IX, which was established to ban gender discrimination in educational communities like ours.

We have been struggling this week to come to terms with historical allegations investigated under our current Title IX procedures, and with a broader failure in society, past and present, to protect women and other individuals harmed and marginalized as a result of their gender. It was these very failures that brought about expansions to the protections of Title IX in 2011, protections that we support and invoke for all members of our community and that are now being assailed with a new proposal to remove protections for some of the most vulnerable members of our College and this nation. This could not have come at a more painful moment for our College community, and I want to acknowledge the fear, distrust and anxiety of this moment at Mount Holyoke and the ways in which it is amplified by this conjunction at the national level.

The attempt embodied in this DHHS memorandum to challenge the freedoms that we hold dear, including freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination, are compounded by a disregard for science, for truth, and for human rights. To those in our community most directly affected by the abhorrent proposal from the DHHS, please know that I, my colleagues, and Mount Holyoke College will continue to honor you and your identities, and to advocate for your rights, your protections, and your dignity. We have much work to do to on campus to further demonstrate our commitment to you, and to meet your expectations of inclusion and support.  

Imperfect though we may still be as an institution, I want to assure you of my personal commitment to each and every one of you—students, faculty, staff and alums—and to say again that, as a College, and an administration empowered to take action and entrusted with your safety and well being, we will hold ourselves to the highest standards and continue to work collaboratively to create the conditions on this campus for all to enjoy the respect that comes from understanding and empathy, and for all to thrive. Our goal is to demonstrate through action that Mount Holyoke can be exemplary in addressing gender-based discrimination and all forms of bias.  I have been moved and impressed by your forthrightness in opposition and in conversation, as well as by the support you have shown despite disagreement and disappointment.

November is a time when many transgender individuals and their allies gather to celebrate their resilience and resistance, and to honor members of this community whose lives have been lost.  The memory of one such individual, Rita Hester, lives on due to the activism of friends who established the Transgender Day of Remembrance to commemorate her life and commitments. It is also a time when we center the narratives of indigenous people through a series of programs in our cultural centers on campus. This year’s events will include a week of activities with a keynote speaker who identifies as a trans Indigenous and Latina community organizer and activist, Estrella Sanchez.   

This is a moment for us all to turn our attention to community-building and to support those in pain, under threat, or in fear. As you may already have seen on social media, tonight from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, along with the Division of Student Life, will create an opportunity for our LGBTQ+ community to be in conversation and mutual support in the Jeannette Marks House.

This is also a moment for us to question our assumptions, to be open to learning, to challenge our own prejudice and bias, to seek to understand difference, and to do all that we can do to defend the freedoms and rights of others. I commit to my own work in this regard, and trust that you will, too.

Sincerely,

Sonya Stephens
President