Yes. But Harvard is older than the U.S. Department of State.

A charming, endearing essay, After Two Decades by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey.  The two decades being the time since she transitioned from Donald McCloskey to Dierdre McCloskey.

If you are from the large team of cisgender heteronormativity, it is sometimes challenging to comprehend or navigate the evolving issues and norms of those others.  But McCloskey, as do I, has a deep interest in  history, economic development and the role of culture in development.  I have several of her big slab books, and especially enjoy, in tiny increments, Bourgeois Virtue.

Why tiny increments?  The density of her writing, the density of her empirical evidence and nuance of her  arguments. 

She is a woman of strong opinions and has, over time, frequently been involved in various passionate disputes among those in the LGBT coalition.  Again, beyond my ken.

But After Two Decades is beyond argument.  It is her lucid description of her experience in making the transition.  Her decision to transition may be difficult to comprehend but her courage is manifest.  She has sacrificed much for her decisions.  And despite it all, there is charming humor.

At my 35th Harvard College reunion, in 1999, the first one I attended as Deirdre, my classmates had been genial. A man who ran a big fish wholesaling firm in Boston and who had played on the football team I captained in high school gave me a kiss on the cheek. At a contradance on the Radcliffe quad I partnered for a couple of hours with a shy, tall classmate whom I hadn’t known. The dance was elegant and fun, reminding me of square dancing with my wife in England and Sweden. I thanked the fellow afterwards, and he replied, by way of explaining why he didn’t recognize me from college, “I didn’t know many Radcliffe women.” I unthinkingly replied, “Well, neither did I.” Whoops. He looked at me strangely, but didn’t get it.

And

During the late 1990s shortly after my transition I had called up a male dean at Harvard and asked him if Harvard could change my degree to the women’s college, Radcliffe. “Oh, I don’t think we can do that.” “But the U. S. State Department,” I whined, “had no trouble changing my passport from male to female.” Pause. Then with a smile in his voice, “Yes. But Harvard is older than the U.S. Department of State.” Goodness. Some things never change.