AN ALL-MALE historically black college in the US has announced that it will start accepting transgender men.
Morehouse College, which is located in Atlanta and boasts Samuel L Jackson and Spike Lee among its alumni, revealed the news on Saturday (April 13).
In a statement published on its website, Morehouse said: “The Morehouse College Board of Trustees has approved a Gender Identity Policy that will allow individuals who self-identify as men, regardless of the sex assigned to them at birth, to be considered for admission in the nation’s only historically black school for men.”
The college’s admission policy will continue to ban applicants who identify as female from enrolling.
Only students who enrol in Morehouse College by the Autumn 2020 semester will be affected by the new rules. All students who are enrolled before then are not impacted by the policy change.
Terrance Dixon, vice president for enrolment management at Morehouse, said: “In a rapidly changing world that includes a better understanding of gender identity, we’re proud to expand our admissions policy to consider trans men who want to be part of an institution that has produced some of the greatest leaders in social justice, politics, business, and the arts for more than 150 years.”
He added: “The ratification of this policy affirms the college’s commitment to develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service.”
The change to the admissions policy has sparked debate. Some have expressed concerns about the conditions of the new policy and the extent of support that will be available to trans men, while others have shared their disagreement with the change altogether.
“Yes, Morehouse is allowing transgender men to be admitted but let’s please not ignore that students who begin to identify as trans women will no longer be eligible to matriculate at Morehouse, and the erasure of non-binary and gender non conforming bodies,” one Twitter user said.
“Morehouse can hardly handle (and support) feminine-presenting queer students. I’m eager [to] see a more thorough and specific plan to ensure trans men’s well-being before this policy is implemented,” another said.
The new Morehouse gender identity policy was made public the day after the US military implemented new measures to prohibit transgender people from serving.
Under the new rules, which came into force on Friday, transgender men and women are only permitted to enlist if they present as the gender they were assigned at birth. Any serving personnel who transitions during their time in the military will be discharged.
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