Investment banking firm Megan Stanley proudly announced Saturday that she will no longer operate under her given name and will instead function under a new name that better aligns with her true gender identity. The move was largely applauded by her colleagues, and the New York Stock Exchange showed support raising a banner with the words “Welcome Megan!”
Fellow investment bank Merrill Lynch described the move as “showing tremendous bravery,” and “an inspiration to the transgender movement on Wall Street and beyond.”
JPMorgan Chase went further saying “Megan’s move here today is both a personal statement to speak her truth and a challenge to those who believe that investment banks’ genders are set in stone.”
Megan is the first Wall Street financial institution to officially announce their identity as transgender, but most analysts are certain that she will not be the last. Suspicions were raised in 2018 over Credit Suisse when the investment bank used the gender-neutral pronouns “the firm” and “the firm’s” in their annual report, but no announcements have been made to date on their gender identity. At the time, the only employed Gender Studies expert in the nation stated that this could be a sign that Credit Suisse was testing the waters to see how news of a non-binary bank might fare. If that’s the case, Megan’s announcement today may encourage them or other closeted transgender banks to come out.
Not all of the responses were positive, however. Wells Fargo, who is well known in the industry to oppose transgender investment banking, issued a statement that lambasted the announcement as “ridiculous” and argued that the media’s non-critical acceptance of gendering banks was “a threat to the traditional roles banks play in society.”
“Look, we’ve already pointlessly started referring to portfolio as ‘portfoli-x’ what more do you want from us?” rhetorically asked Wells Fargo.
Following their announcement Wells Fargo’s social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Pornhub were suspended for violating the terms of service against harassment.
