Exclusionary policies go against our movement’s commitment to winning equality for all. But our members stand up against such hurtful practices that leave out people in our communities.

Groups like Equality Michigan, who recently publicly denounced the exclusion of transgender women from the state’s annual Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (Michfest), are reaffirming our movement’s commitment to equality for all — with no one left behind.

Michfest is a yearly festival for womyn spanning five days of activities and performances held in the remote woodlands of Michigan. For almost forty years, the festival has maintained a “womyn-born-womyn” intention that excludes transgender women from attending the festival.

From Emily Dievendorf, Executive Director at Equality Michigan:

“The position that Equality Michigan, trans activists, allied orgs, and petition signers took on Michfest this year shines a light on the exclusion of the trans* community in general and we feel that this signals yet another turning point in the building of a more inclusive movement that will move forward to win full equality together.”

Equality Michigan knows that transgender women are women and have every right to attend the festival. That’s why they’ve taken a stand against this exclusionary policy. Equality Federation is proud to join them in this stand, along with countless other organizations and individuals.