Transgender Policy Updates

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com

The September issue of Fraternal Law reported that Sigma Phi Epsilon had adopted a policy acknowledging that “any individual who identifies as a man is welcome to seek membership in the fraternity.”  Fraternal Law inaccurately reported that Sigma Phi Epsilon became the first men’s fraternity to adopt a clear transgender policy.

In fact, months earlier, Lambda Chi Alpha published an official ruling of the Grand High Pi on the issue of gender identity.  While the ruling reaffirmed the single-sex membership of Lambda Chi Alpha, the ruling made it clear that:

“a college ‘man’ for the purposes of our laws, is any individual who at the time both of his association and his initiation, self identifies as male, regardless of his assigned sex at birth, or the perceived expression of his gender.  Any such individual should be considered on an equal basis with all other candidates….”

As the ruling pointed out, at least 23 universities at which Lambda Chi Alpha either has or has had a chapter, gender identity is among the prohibitions against discrimination enforced by the university.  The list of schools prohibiting such discrimination continues to grow.