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 Social media erupts with support for Calliope Wong, a male-to-female transgender applicant rejected from Smith College because of a government financial aid document. 
 
 A Facebook group called Smith Q&A; is posting photos of women posing with signs supporting Calliope Wong, a rejected transgender applicant . (Photo: Smith Q&A Facebook page) Story Highlights Calliope Wong was a male-to-female transgender applicant 
 
 Smith College has accepted transgender students in the past 
 
 Facebook groups have launched in support of Wong 
 
 Smith College, a private women's college in Massachusetts, has rejected Calliope Wong, a male-to-female transgender applicant because a government financial aid document registers Wong as male. 
 
 Wong posted the rejection letter to her Tumblr blog, sparking a wave of support on social media sites. 
 
 "Smith is a women's college, which means that undergraduate applicants to Smith must be female at the time of admission," the rejection letter, signed by the Dean of Admission, Debra Shaver, reads. "Your FAFSA indicates your gender as male. Therefore, Smith cannot process your application." 
 
 Members of Smith College varsity crew team, Smith alumni and students at other colleges pose with signs saying "Trans Women belong at Smith" on Facebook. Hundreds of others have flocked to social media to support Wong. 
 
 "I cried the day my papers came back. I still feel like crying," Wong posted on her blog. 
 
 State laws vary on changing gender on birth certificates. 
 
 Most states, including Connecticut, Wong's home state, and Massachusetts, where Smith College is located, require proof in the form of a court order or surgeon's letter that the individual's sex has been changed by surgical procedure. 
 
 Federally, a person must prove they have had a gender-reassignment surgery to change the gender on their social security or passport. 
 
 According to the Smith College website, the student body includes individuals who identify as transgender. The page also notes that "to be eligible for review, a student's application and supporting documentation (transcripts, recommendations, etc.) will reflect her status as a woman." 
 
 In an earlier post, Wong wrote: "But in order to be legally recognized as 'female' on my birth certificate according to BOTH Massachusetts and Connecticut law, I have to undergo vaginoplasty (feminizing genital surgery). From what I understand, Smith College will only evaluate me as a 'real' girl if I get sex reassignment surgery." 
 
 Wong adds: "Transwomen are most likely not ready for surgery at 17 or 18, the typical age of a college applicant. It's a monumental personal decision that usually arises from years of introspection and deliberation." 
 
 Wong told the Huffington Post that while she does not plan to appeal Smith's decision, she is in no way giving up on her cause. 
 
 "I continue working so that others who care about equal rights have access to the truth," Wong wrote to the Huffington Post in an e-mail. "And, most importantly, I do this for the transfolk after me, so that they might inherit better policies and a more just system of education. 
 
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– A transgender student had her application to Smith College rejected because a government financial aid form indicated she was a "he," reports USA Today. Calliope Wong, who was born male but has identified as female for years, got this letter in reply to her application: "Smith is a women's college, which means that undergraduate applicants to Smith must be female at the time of admission. ... Your FAFSA indicates your gender as male. Therefore, Smith cannot process your application." "I cried the day my papers came back. I still feel like crying," wrote Wong on her blog, and Facebook and Tumblr campaigns supporting her quickly followed. Both Connecticut, where Wong lives, and Massachusetts, where Smith is located, don't recognize a change in gender without a court order or surgeon's letter to prove that a person's sex has been changed surgically. However full vaginoplasty (feminizing genital surgery) generally isn't an option when someone is just 17 or 18, says Wong. She tells the Huffington Post that she will not appeal the ruling but hopes to keep the issue alive for future applicants. Click for more.