George Washington University (GW)’s Parliamentary Debate Society has decided along with Wellesley College to host a debate tournament exclusively for women and biological males who…
George Washington University (GW)’s Parliamentary Debate Society has decided along with Wellesley College to host a debate tournament exclusively for women and biological males who identify as women. Males who identify as men will not be allowed to participate.
“George Washington University and Wellesley College requested that their tournament weekend be designated a gender minority tournament,” reads the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA)’s meeting minutes, adding that the body had “approved this request.”
One GW student, Galen Ekimov, argued that “separating participants by gender is not the answer” in a recent op-ed published in the independent student newspaper, the GW Hatchet .
“Instead of instituting structural changes about the way gender power dynamics in debate play out and attempting to solve the issue, the American Parliamentary Debate Association is effectively shelving the issue of gender inequality and pushing it to its own tournament,” stated Ekimov.
