Revision Suggestions for Gender Related Diagnoses in the DSM and ICD
Here is the transcript of the talk as it was given at the 2009 World Professional Association for Transgender Health conference in Oslo, Norway on June 19th, 2009 by Randall D. Ehrbar, Psy.D., Kelley Winters, Ph.D. and R. Nicholas Gorton, M.D.
Transsexuals are considered disordered not only according to the DSM of the American Psychiatric Association but also according to the ICD, the international standard diagnostic classification of the World Health Organization and to most psychiatrists around the world who use the ICD for all general epidemiological and many health management and clinical purposes.
It's incredible that psychiatrists still cling to a policy that is refuted by science and is abhorrent to all people who celebrate human diversity. The intelligence and courage of transsexual people who, in spite of being so abused throughout the world and throughout their lives, fight for their dignity and rights is testimony to the healthiness of transsexuality itself.
1 comment:
The points made here are sound. The majority of humans are heterosexual but this does not mean that those who deviate from the norm are in any way morally inferior or suffering from an illness; they are aberrant, in that they are not part of the majority, but this does not imply any value judgment whatsoever. It is simply a matter of numerical comparison. The sad fact is that a large segment of society does not comprehend this, hence the ongoing bigotry against those who don't fit into the standard pattern. That is one of the salient points of my recently released biographical novel, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay man, and chronicles his internal and external struggles as he battles for acceptance (of himself and by others, including fellow Mormons). More information on the book is available at www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.
Mark Zamen, author
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