A biologically male student at a private university in upstate New York is crying discrimination after being ousted from a sorority due to the student's identity.
Fabián "Fa" Guzmán, 22, a biological male who reportedly identifies as nonbinary, attends St. Lawrence University and was distraught when the national office for the Chi Omega sorority revoked Guzmán's membership at the start of June.
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The decision for Guzmán's removal came at the start of Pride Month, and no option for an appeal was offered, according to a report.
"The selection criteria in the policy on membership includes 'females and individuals identifying as women,' which, by the chapter's own understanding and your indication through the process, it is clear you did not meet the criteria at the time of joining," the national office said, according to Guzmán.
Male who identifies as non-binary says he was accepted to a sorority but just had his membership voided because he “didn’t meet the criteria for membership”
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 27, 2023
He says there’s a stereotype of who a sorority girl is like using she/her pronouns and he feels betrayed by his sisterhood pic.twitter.com/fPfqTn3FFN
In the wake of the decision, Guzmán launched a Change.org petition seeking to be reinstated.
The student had been approved to rush as a nonbinary individual by multiple sororities at St. Lawrence University, the report noted, and Guzmán chose Chi Omega due to its nature of support and inclusivity.
After becoming a member, Guzmán rose to the rank of the chapter’s recruitment chair, and the success saw the school's alumni magazine seek to write a feature about Guzmán.
However, the Chi Omega national office did not want to publicize Guzmán due to the increasing "backlash" against LGBT community members.
"The national organization threatened to revoke my membership if we went public with the story," Guzmán stated in the petition.
"They then required me to partake in a two-step process of gender-based eligibility process that I was never privy to prior, and in the end, the CEO of Chi Omega voided my membership without the ability to appeal."
Ultimately, Guzmán alleges the removal was due to sex assigned at birth
"Chi Omega's reactionary void of my membership was blatant transphobia and bigotry," Guzmán said.
"It's just really hard because I’ve given my heart and soul to the sorority because I love it ... I love my sisters, I love my sisterhood. I love the chapter history. I love everything [about it]."
Guzmán only wants to be back with the Chi Omega sisters before graduation and denied any intentions to invade female spaces.
"The times have changed, and people like me, nonbinary people and trans people, deserve to be part of an organization where they feel they belong — regardless of [where] society wants to put them," Guzmán said.
At the end of the day, Chi Omega said Guzmán was removed because the student failed to meet membership requirements.
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"In accordance with our governing documents, Chi Omega's Executive Headquarters recently made the decision to void the membership of an Epsilon Kappa Chapter member at St. Lawrence University," the sorority said in a statement.
"By their own admission, this individual did not meet the criteria for membership at the time of joining."