Medical issues for transgendered people go beyond surgeryLiz Szabo, USA TODAY, August 22, 2013 6:37 p.m. EDT
In March, the psychiatric profession's diagnostic manual eliminated the term "gender identity disorder" from its list of mental health disorders. That change reflects the profession's recognition that transgendered people, who do not identify with the sex with which they were born, are not mentally ill, says Jeffrey Parsons, a professor of psychology at Hunter College in New York.
The newest version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-V, does include the term "gender dysphoria," or "the emotional stress somebody might experience because there is a discrepancy between their assigned gender, which they were born with, and the gender they feel they are."
A landmark court case may also affect how transgendered prison inmates are treated.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that the Massachusetts Department of Correction must provide sex-reassignment surgery for Michelle Kosilek, who was born male and is serving a life sentence for murder.
