Are we really HeForShe?

Olivia Ngo (she/her), President of HeForShe at the University of Michigan

CW: discussion of discrimination and gender-based violence

HeForShe is a movement coined by Elizabeth Nyamayaro to encourage all people to fight for gender equality. Nyamayaro recognized that gender inequality hurts everyone, and led the United Nations campaign to treat gender inequality as a human rights issue. So if we are an organization dedicated to fighting for gender equality, what’s the problem with HeForShe?

Any equality movement requires the most discriminated groups to be prioritized at the heart of the campaign in order to see true, long-lasting change. Many people, including transgender, non-binary, and two-spirit individuals are left out of the equation in HeForShe. Through its name, HeForShe develops a gender binary around the issue of gender equality. While the official campaign website says it “partners with leaders who are making tangible commitments towards accelerating gender equality,” which does not specify a binary, it is run by the United Nations coalition UN Women. By definition, UN Women prioritizes the rights of cisgender women and girls while ignoring transgender, non-binary, and two-spirit identities. UN Women is “the UN organization delivering programs, policies, and standards that uphold women’s human rights and ensures that every woman and girl lives up to her full potential.” While at first glance, the simple use of “women” may appear to include transgender women, transgender women face significantly more discrimination than cisgender women. According to the UCLA School of Law, transgender individuals are 4x more likely than cisgender individuals to experience violent victimization. By failing to recognize the privileges of cisgender women, and how the rights of transgender women are far behind their cisgender counterparts, we cannot address how society treats the two groups differently.

Furthermore, the campaign blatantly leaves out anyone who does not identify as a woman. A simple search on the UN Women’s website will reveal 6262 hits for “women”, 85 results for “transgender”, 17 results for “non-binary”, and 0 results for “two-spirit”. While the organization claims to be the “global champion for gender equality” that cannot be done without including the voices of the most marginalized groups. Additionally, though it's hard to say which generalization is more egregious, failing to recognize two-spirit individuals ignores the Westernized settler-colonial society that perpetuates discrimination, destroys indigenous communities, and neglects the importance of intersectional identities.

Moving forward, HeForShe at the University of Michigan will be changing our name to separate ourselves from this women’s rights movement, in favor of a comprehensive gender equality campaign. We hope that we can be one small part in demanding more from all world leaders, to uplift the voices of the LGBTQIA+ community, and honor the beauty and challenges of intersectional identities.