I See The Light!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a sorority that banned trans women well from all the backlash they saw the light.

‘There Is No Ban’: After Facing Backlash for a ‘Diversity Statement’ That Excluded Trans Women, Zeta Phi Beta Makes a New Pledge
The Glow Up
By Maiysha Kai
May 13, 2019

Zeta Phi Beta wants to make it clear that all women are welcome in its sisterhood.

As reported by Essence magazine, the historically black sorority had earned the ire of many after an article by the Washington Blade made public a “diversity statement” purportedly adopted by the sorority’s International Executive Board on Jan. 12, which claimed that the 99-year-old sorority “values all people, regardless of race, age, gender, gender expression, ability, disability, creed, religion, or walk of life” yet stipulated that “an individual must be a cisgender woman” to join.
[…]
However, in an exclusive statement to Essence, the sorority has apologized for the language of its previous statement, clarifying that there is no exclusion of the trans community.

The statement reads, in part:

Since our founding on January 16, 1920, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. has sought to create a sorority that embraces and values all of our members. Sadly, a previous diversity statement made by our organization fell short of that goal and for that, we offer our deepest apologies. .
...
We have always aimed to foster an inclusive and diverse sisterhood and remain committed to being an organization that embraces scholarship, provides true service and sets the standard for sisterly love.

The sorority also notes that there are currently transgender women within its ranks and that they will be updating their membership guidelines to “provide additional guidance”—presumably, to whoever drafted and approved the original diversity statement. Most importantly, the statement to Essence declares that “[transgender members] have always been entitled to the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other member and shall retain the rights, privileges and responsibilities they were endowed with once they took the oath and became a member.”

I wish that I could have joined a sorority back in my college days instead of a fraternity, a couple of times I emailed them to change my name but they have ignored my requests.