Danilewitz I11-Informed

In his March 3 editorial, Justin Danilewitz shows himself to be well-meaning but ill-informed. His flip opening comment about "male, female, or a bit of both" clearly shows his fundamental lack of understanding about transgenderism--like the rest of us, most transgendered persons clearly identify themselves as being of one sex or the other.

Mr. Danilewitz is also very concerned about the "confusion" or "havoc" that might be caused by allowing transgendered individuals to live their lives as their chosen gender. If the situation were as simple as he portrays it to be--people whimsically deciding to switch genders at will and for no apparent reason--then his concerns would be valid. Perhaps a look at the definition of "gender" adopted by the Cambridge City Council would ease Mr. Danilewitz's worries.

On Feb. 24, the Cambridge City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance which added "gender" as a criterion which could not be used for discrimination in matters of housing, education, employment, or public accommodation. Here, gender is defined to be "the actual or perceived appearance, expression, or identity of a person with respect to masculinity and femininity." In addition, the ordinance was amended to redefine "same sex" to mean "occupying the same social and identity roles as another with respect to being male or female." The term "same sex" is used in the ordinance to allow single-sex educational institutions, dormitories, and bathrooms. Access to these facilities is now permitted if two criteria are met: a consistent, persistent identity of the gender in question; and a full-time, unambiguous presentation of that gender. In other words, believing yourself to be a man is not enough; you must also, without exception, live, work, socialize, and study as a man.

Misconceptions of the sort Mr. Danilewitz demonstrated in his editorial are understandable only in light of a lack of information about the matter. I applaud the Undergraduate Council for making the effort to become more educated about transgenderism and the issues faced by transgendered individuals before making their decision, and I would urge all undergraduates to do the same. The transgendered individuals at Harvard deserve your respect and understanding. --Susan Marie Groppi '98