# GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitioners



## My Freemasonry (Apr 3, 2014)

On March 20, 2014, Wayne S. Flora, Grand Master of Virginia, issued the following edict (as well as change in petition format) governing rules for membership of transgendered persons in lodges holden under the Grand Lodge of Virginia:

_Freemasonry traditionally being a Fraternity of good men, no person shall become or remain a Mason who does not continue to remain both physically and legally a male or who does not continue to present and conduct himself as such._ ​The petition for membership now requires members to avow that the were born a male and continue as a male.

To my knowledge, this is the first time a U.S. Grand Lodge has dealt with the issue of transgendered members. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Read the whole edict here.

H/T Bill Hosler

More...


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## dfreybur (Apr 3, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*

Back when I was in the line the first time in the late 1990s, California declined to pass this.  The recommendation was to check at the local level.

I figure if they ever get a former woman apply as a man, that recommendation will change.  What happened is a former man took the surgeries then was prevailed upon to demit.  Then she (he, whatever) petitioned to join the Amaranth.  The Amaranth passed the rule then asked that it be presented for vote at blue lodge GL.


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## nfasson (Apr 15, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*

Did Amaranth let her in?

A tricky situation... what defines gender? Even if you had a sex change, you are still the original gender based on your chromosomes. That, however, makes a man becoming a woman trickier to define even when you say "remain a man" bc technically you are still a man even after surgery.

My head spins...




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## Brother JC (Apr 15, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*

Actually, hormone therapy before/during/after surgery can change a chromosome registry. It's to testing in a number of sports.


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## dfreybur (Apr 15, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*



nfasson said:


> Did Amaranth let her in?



Yep.  Someone signed her petition stating they'd known her her whole life.  In fact that sponsor had known him his entire life since birth then known her since her operations.  If that's how the gender pronouns work in such a case.  The sponsor declined to mention any gender issue and the ballot passed.  It didn't take long for someone to recognize her and report her history.  And that's when the hilarity ensued.  There was a trial that resulted in expulsion and the Amaranth passed at the state level in California a wording change on their petition to "natural born woman".  Even in California having a transgendered member was too much for the Amaranth.

It was a mess.  One of the guys in my lodge was grand something in the Amaranth when it passed and they requested the same proposal be voted on at our Grand Lodge, so I got told the entire story and signed the paperwork.  When it came to the GL floor for a vote I wasn't convinced enough of my stance to go to the microphone to defend it.  It passed on the floor at in the Amaranth, failed on the floor at GL.  When the committee on jurisprudence reported they were careful to not suggest anyone transgendered should be accepted; they just explained why it needs to be handled at the local level.

I hope I never have to encounter a situation like this in any of my known lodges.


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## nfasson (Apr 15, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*

Oh, wow... so this individual neither qualifies as a man to be in Masonry nor qualifies as a woman to be in the Amaranth. Harsh.

But, deception is just not the avenue to take. I wonder what would have happened if he had been honest?


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## Mac (Apr 16, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*



trysquare said:


> Actually, hormone therapy before/during/after surgery can change a chromosome registry. It's to testing in a number of sports.



What do you mean "change a chromosome registry?"

Are you saying a DNA test would show a post-therapy transgender man as XY, despite being born XX?


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## Brother JC (Apr 16, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*

Thanks for calling me out, Mac, I was talking through my hat. The tests I was thinking of are purely hormone-based.


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## Mac (Apr 16, 2014)

*Re: GL of Virginia Prohibits Transgendered Petitio*



trysquare said:


> Thanks for calling me out, Mac, I was talking through my hat. The tests I was thinking of are purely hormone-based.



No call out involved! I was just genuinely curious. It was something I needed to know for my line of work. 


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