College Fraternity to Accept Transgender Members

247Gay.com

Tempe, AZ – Sigma Phi Beta Fraternity’s national board of directors enacted a policy at its May 14th meeting in Tucson which allows transgender students to join the Fraternity. The policy goes above and beyond any other known policy of a national social college fraternity by allowing individuals who self-identify as male to seek membership, regardless of their sex at birth and whether or not they have obtained legal recognition of their gender identity. Furthermore, the policy allows full members to maintain their membership, even if at a later date they decide to change their gender to female.

Jamison Green, a nationally-recognized transgender activist and educator who serves on the board of directors of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute, expressed his support.

“Sigma Phi Beta’s decision to welcome transgender fraternity members is in direct fulfillment of the Greek Life values of self-determination, self-actualization, and brotherhood. The inclusion of gay and transgender students in the fraternity system ensures the formative experience of true brotherhood,” said Green, who is also the author of Becoming a Visible Man (Vanderbilt University Press, 2004).