News

On July 8, 2013, the Complaint Adjudication Office of the Department of Justice (DOJ) found that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) discriminated against firm client Mia Macy on the basis of her transgender status in its decision not to hire her as a Ballistics Forensic Technician at its Forensic Science Laboratory in Walnut Creek, California. Ms. Macy is now eligible for back pay, back benefits, and attorney’s fees, among other remedies, and the ATF must take steps to prevent future discrimination. For more information, see the final decision here.

Washington Blade article about the decision: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/07/15/trans-victims-for-workplace-bias-find-relief-in-historic-decisions/

Read the full interview: http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/books/2013/01/18/carla-tomasos-frozen-tackles-mommy-issues-reincarnation-and

Ginny Berson '67: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/175/gallery/ginny-berson

Joan E. Biren '66: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/175/gallery/joan-e-biren

We are happy and proud to see them listed there! Congratulations, Joan and Ginny!

Mount Holyoke College, a private women’s college in South Hadley, only admits students who are legally women, according to Lynn Pasquerella, president of the college. She said that the college relies on applicants to tell the school their gender.

Pasquerella said that while Mount Holyoke seeks to be as inclusive as possible, the college believes that if they admitted transwomen, they would run afoul of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination but has an exception for single-sex colleges.

“We’re constrained by the law,” Pasquerella said. “If someone is not legally female, we can’t admit them and keep our federal funding.”

Pasquerella said that Mount Holyoke is discussing the implications of transgender students with other women’s colleges.

“We are first and foremost committed to being a women’s college,” she said.

The admissions policy at Mount Holyoke has not been challenged by any applicants, Pasquerella said.

Read rebuttal to Title IX argument here: http://title-ix.blogspot.com/2013/03/title-ix-is-no-excuse-to-reject.html

A Vassar alum wrote in her obituary in Lesbian Connection: "Fare thee well, Anne, I love you. As one of the many Vassar Wolfgirls whom you inspired and encouraged to come forth and create a vital lesbian and gay community at Vassar, I miss your gentle, warm and deeply intelligent guidance."

Read another obituary about her life here: http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2012/05/31849/orients-anne-mackay-was-a-force-of-nature/

Calliope Wong, a high school senior from Connecticut, has twice sent an application to the prestigious all-female Smith College, but her papers have been returned without even an official admissions review.

It's not her grades or SAT scores, but her self-identity as a transgender female.

Wong, 17, was born male, which her family indicated on her federal application for financial aid in order to coincide with her Social Security number. But her admission materials describe her as female.

Smith has told her it cannot process her admission application as a female because the gender markers on her forms conflict.

Read the full story here: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/female-smith-college-returns-transgender-womans-admissions-application/story?id=18805681#.UVGfIRj9qKw

Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Smith-QA/580489428637114