Calliope Wong, a transgender woman who was rejected as an applicant to Smith College, has inspired a petition with 4,000 signatures that will be delivered to Smith College administrators on May 2.
Smith College's gender and sexuality advocacy organization Q&A will deliver the petition to the college's admission's office, as Mass Live notes.
As The Advocate points out, the private Massachusetts university usually welcomes transgender students with the requirement that they legally identify as female at the time of admission. But Wong was rejected from the school because her Free Application For Student Aid identified the Connecticut student as male, according to Smith College's Dean of Admission Debra Shaver.
On March 25, Wong joined HuffPost Live to discuss the rejection.
"I wanted to apply to Smith College because I saw it as an iron woman school. A school that empowered women, that was conducive to an independent thinking and strong woman," she said. "I was attracted to the school because I felt that's exactly what I wanted from my education. To become an independent and strong individual who would be able to stand up for rights."
Meanwhile, some colleges and universities have opted to offer health insurance coverage for transgender students seeking gender confirmation surgery; Duke University recently joined the growing list to do so.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Wong would be on hand to deliver the petition but she will not be present.
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