“This business is proud to say we don’t care about women,” declared a sticker bearing the colors of the transgender flag. This sticker, along with several transgender flags placed into toilets, was found in one of the bathrooms inside Blanchard Hall on March 31, International Transgender Day of Visibility.
In August 2020, the College implemented a new Chosen-Name Policy, allowing Mount Holyoke community members to administratively change their names from their given name to their chosen name. This new policy is an effort to introduce more gender-inclusive policies that support transgender and gender-nonconforming community members at the College.
Before this policy, transgender students could still change their deadname — their birth or former name — to their preferred name or “nickname,” by contacting the Office of the Registrar. However, if not completed before the beginning of a semester, not every document would automatically change, such as professors’ rosters.
BY HANNAH ROACH '17
This past weekend saw a major increase in the rights of transgender individuals in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts law that prohibits any discrimination against gender identity in public spaces was signed in July, and went into effect this Saturday. Massachusetts is the 18th state in the country to create such provisions for transgender people, according to the Berkshire Eagle.
