Changing the Name of HBIGDA:

Emails to and from Dr. Stan Monstrey, October 2006

From: Anne Lawrence
To: Stan Monstrey, Bean Robinson
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006
Subject: Changing the name of HBIGDA

Dear Stan and Bean,

I am writing to you in your capacities as President and Executive Director of HBIGDA.

I continue to receive emails from HBIGDA referring to the organization's name as "WPATH" and saying that it is "formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Inc." According to the Bylaws of the Association, the name of the Association, as specified by Article I, is the "Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Incorporated." Moreover, according to Article XI of the Bylaws, any change in the Bylaws "must be approved by a majority vote of the membership."

Consequently, it would seem to me that the name of the organization must remain the "Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Inc." until changed by a vote of the membership. As far as I know, no such vote has taken place.

My question to you is: Does the Association plan to operate in accordance with its own Bylaws and conduct a vote by the membership on this issue? Or is it the intent of the Board of Directors to disregard the Bylaws and act by fiat?

Sincerely yours,
Anne
Anne A. Lawrence, M.D., Ph.D.

From: Stan Monstrey
To: Anne Lawrence
Cc: Walter Meyer, Bean Robinson, Eli Coleman, Stephen Whittle, Alyson Meiselman, Griet De Cuypere, Walter Bockting
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Subject: RE: Changing the name of HBIGDA

Dear Anne,

I hope this mail finds you well.

The question whether or not a decision as to the name of the Association must be approved by a majority vote of the membership has of course been (extensively) discussed during our Strategic Planning Meeting in New York last January 2006, when the name change was proposed and approved by the Board of Directors. In response to your concerns, we have reviewed the Minutes of this Strategic Planning Meeting and have asked our legal advisors, President-Elect, Stephen Whittle and Chair of the Legal Issues Committee, to more formally summarize this issue, analysis and result.

We believe that the Board acted within its remit when changing the name of HBIGDA to WPATH. We consider that the name change is not so substantive (i.e. impacts so much on the membership), that it would be appropriate for it to be put to the membership for a vote. We believe that it is correct that it be decided by the Board who has not acted ex officio by changing the name, as:

a. The matter is something entirely appropriate to the Board to decide. The Board has the responsibility to ensure the future, the financial well being and the mission statement and purpose of the Association. The HBIGDA name was not an asset to recruiting professional members from non-North Americans who work within the field of transgender health. The change of name to the World Professional's Association for Transgender Health will, in fact, encourage recruitment of more professional members working in Transgender Health, simply through the clarity of the new name. Hence, the Board is also abiding by its fiscal responsibilities, in ensuring the future and financial stability of the Association, by encouraging a new (as well as old) membership that can see that the Association can represent them and the work they do.
b. Article 1 of the Bylaws has no major impact on the membership of the Association. Members do not join for the name, nor to discuss the heritage of the Association and its association with Harry Benjamin. Rather, members join to liaise and network with other professionals in the field of transgender health. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate for the Board to decide the change of name as it is not of particular concern to the membership what the name of the Association is.
c. It will enhance the possibilities of enjoining members from those parts of the world where Harry Benjamin has not been heard of, e.g. Latin American, African and Asian environments where transgender health care is not only in its infancy, but is looking for new ethical and treatment frameworks appropriate to their cultural and social background. The new name will be an asset for all concerned, and it is within the remit of the Board to have authorised the change of name.

Of course we do not assume that everybody is enthusiastic about the new name but the (large) majority of reactions have been extremely positive (and hope that we have convinced you by our explanation). Any future substantive bylaw changes will (of course) be brought to the membership for a vote (as required in our Bylaws). We will definitely keep you informed on this.

See you most probably in Chicago for the 2007 Meeting.

Best regards,
Stan

From: Anne Lawrence
To: Stan Monstrey
Cc: Walter Meyer, Bean Robinson, Eli Coleman, Stephen Whittle, Alyson Meiselman, Griet De Cuypere, Walter Bockting
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Subject: Re: Changing the name of HBIGDA

Dear Dr. Monstrey,

Thank you for your message of explanation.

To summarize what you have written: The Board believes that it has the authority to ignore the provisions of the Bylaws whenever it decides that the issue under consideration is not "substantive" or when it decides that ignoring the provisions of the Bylaws will serve the greater good of the Association.

Because the Board also appears to believe that it has the sole authority to decide what matters are "substantive" and what decisions serve the greater good of the Association, one is forced to conclude that the Bylaws are now, for all practical purposes, null and void.

Let us imagine, for example, that the Board decided not to hold elections but instead decided to maintain its current membership indefinitely. It could argue that the governance of the Association is not a "substantive" issue: After all, members do not join the Association for the sake of a particular Board composition, but rather to "liaise and network with other professionals in the field of transgender health"; the composition of the Board does not affect this. Moreover, the Board could argue that its current members possess unique skills that are essential for promoting the good of the Association. Also, not holding elections would save money. I think you get my point: The rationale you have offered for this particular violation of the Bylaws could be used to justify any imaginable violation of the Bylaws in the future.

If the new name is genuinely as popular as you suggest, there would have been little to lose and much to gain by asking the membership to ratify the change at the time of the next election of officers and Board members, assuming the Board decides to hold such an election. There seems to have been little urgency about replacing the name "HBIGDA" with "WPATH," as evidenced by the fact that, 9 months after the Board approved the change, the Association was still using the "HBIGDA.org" web site and was still using the name "HBIGDA" on that site. I suspect that, in reality, the Board believed there was a good chance that the new name would be rejected by the membership and so decided to avoid that risk by ignoring the provisions of the Bylaws.

It will be interesting to see whether the new members the Board hopes to attract by changing the Association's name will be sufficient to compensate for the members you will lose or alienate through this ill-considered and unethical breach of trust with the membership.

Sincerely yours,
Anne A. Lawrence

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