TransActive Response To J. Michael Bailey & Warren Throckmorton
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5/15/2008
TransActive Education & Advocacy
Supporting Youth Of All Genders
1631 NE Broadway, Suite 355-T, Portland, OR 97232
For information contact:
Jenn Burleton - 503-927-7052
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Dear Family, Friends & Allies,
Today, Dr. J. Michael Bailey, author of the book "The Man Who Would Be
Queen" posted a response to our recently released position statement
on the appointment of Dr. Kenneth Zucker to the American Psychiatric
Association's Sexual & Gender Identity Disorders workgroup responsible
for revising and developing the fifth edition of the Diagnostic &
Statistics Manual (DSM-V). This response appeared on Dr. Warren
Throckmorton's blog
http://wthrockmorton.com/2008/05/12/apa-issues-statement-regarding-gid-and-the-dsm-v/#comment-100871. Dr. Throckmorton describes his blog in the following manner:
A College Psychology Professor's Observations About Culture, Mental
Health, Sexual Identity, and Religious Issues
(Dr. Throckmorton is an adherent to Dr. Zucker's treatment methods
with regard to childhood GID which in our opinion negatively impacts
the lives of gender non-conforming children. Dr. Throckmorton has also
reported positive outcomes with regard to these treatment methods
(perhaps unintentionally) when in fact the outcome is, at best,
unknown and most likely exceedingly negative.)
While it is not TransActive's policy to engage in non-productive
adversarial communication, I felt that Dr. Bailey and Dr. Throckmorton
were so disingenuous in their comments and accusations regarding our
motives that a response was necessary. That response follows below
(after the signature). Please feel free to distribute it in any way
you see fit, so long as attribution is given.
On another, but no less important note, we invite you to help us
better serve the children, youth and families we represent by taking
this short (one question) survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=sovkwIEV9Hr6fr5JpGMEhA_3d_3drelated to our recent Press Release regarding the potential criminal
charges against Brandon McInerney for the shooting death of Lawrence
King.
Your participation in this survey will help us better gauge and
develop the role TransActive should play in advocacy and education on
behalf of transgender and gender non-conforming children, youth and
their families.
Thank you for you support,
Jenn Burleton
Executive Director
===
TransActive Response To J. Michael Bailey & Warren Throckmorton
On Dr. Warren Throckmorton's blog
http://wthrockmorton.com/2008/05/12/apa-issues-statement-regarding-gid-and-the-dsm-v/#comment-100871, Dr. J. Michael Bailey took issue with the position TransActive
Education & Advocacy has taken on the selection of Dr. Kenneth Zucker
to Chair the DSM-V Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders workgroup.
He said:
"This is an utterly false characterization of Zucker's position. He
has no desire, stated or otherwise, to prevent homosexuality.
Experience and logic suggest that when people have reasonable and
sound positions, they do not need to mischaracterize the positions of
others they disagree with."
Dr. Throckmorton then added:
"I agree with Bailey, I have seen nothing which would suggest Zucker
has a stake in the eventual sexual orientation of children. And I
certainly agree with the last sentence which has some special
significance to me in light of the cancellation of the APA symposium."
"In my opinion, there are some advocates who implore various audiences
to trust science but really do not want this unless the outcome suits
their advocacy goals."
I posted the following response to Dr.'s Bailey and Throckmorton -
I respectfully suggest that our position paper does not
mis-characterize Dr. Zucker's personal beliefs or clinical approach to
the treatment of gender non-conformity in children and adolescents. In
support of our position, I submit the following statements by Dr.
Zucker, quoted by Frank York on the NARTH (National Association for
Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) website. Dr. Zucker's
statements originally appeared in a 2004 issue of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatric Clinics of North America.
Dr. Zucker admits that there are complex social and ethical issues
surrounding the politics of sex and gender in postmodern Western
culture. He notes that the "most acute ethical issue may concern the
relation between GID and a later homosexual sexual orientation.
Follow-up studies of boys who have GID that largely is untreated,
indicated that homosexuality is the most common long-term psychosexual
outcome."
The concern seems to focus on Dr. Zucker's sense that NOT treating
male children for GID will most commonly result in them becoming
homosexual. Do we not "treat" people for conditions in the hope of
preventing what might be considered by some to be a negative outcome?
Most transgender identified (as opposed to general spectrum gender
non-conforming) children do much better in every way when supported
and respected for their gender identity expression. Which begs the
question, is Dr. Zucker treating the child in a way that is in their
best interests, or simply to satisfy the desires of parents,
therapists and culture?
Furthermore, we believe that Dr. Zucker and others are using
reparative & aversion techniques in treatment of GID in children and
youth as a way to encourage only gender stereotypical expression and
as a smokescreen for discouraging the potential of a gay or lesbian
sexual orientation.
Zucker goes on to say, in the same article quoted above:
"... that clinicians have an ethical obligation to inform parents of
the relationship between GID and homosexuality. Clinical experience
suggests that psychosexual treatments are effective in reducing gender
dysphoria and that individual counseling and parental counseling are
both effective methods of treating GID."
Our experience and a significant body of research indicates that, in
fact, there is very little, if any, objective correlation between core
gender identity and sexual orientation. The statement by Dr. Zucker
that "psychosexual treatments are effective in reducing gender
dysphoria" is, to be blunt, chilling and should be a glowing red flag
to any parent or caregiver who would even consider taken their child
to Dr. Zucker or others who follow his treatment guidelines and
methods.
Continuing from the same article:
"While Zucker perceives gender identity and sexual orientation,
especially among males, to become more fixed with age, he believes the
data suggest a much greater plasticity in childhood."
This belief contradicts the American Academy of Pediatrics which
stated in 1999 that:
"A child's awareness of being a boy or a girl starts in the first year
of life. It often begins by 8 to 10 months of age, when youngsters
typically discover their genitals. Then, between 1 and 2 years old,
children become conscious of physical differences between boys and
girls; before their third birthday they are easily able to label
themselves as either a boy or a girl as they acquire a strong concept
of self. By age 4, children's gender identity is stable, and they know
they will always be a boy or a girl."
The above position by the AAP is most often assumed, in our cissexist
culture, to apply only to cisgender children. However, all evidence
points to this being the case with the vast majority of transgender
children as well. The fact that their anatomy may not match their
gender identity does not, in any way, invalidate the certainty of
their transgender identity.
And finally, from the same article, we have this:
And if a secure gender identity prevents the development of later
homosexuality, as Zucker acknowledges as a possibility, parents should
be informed of the research on the relationship between the two.
Zucker's priority is "helping these kids be happily male or female,"
but he also acknowledges that the treatment process does, in some
cases, apparently avert homosexual development .
And in support of parents' rights to avert a homosexual outcome for
their children, Zucker cites a persuasive quote from Richard Green:
"The right of parents to oversee the development of children is a long
-established principle. Who is to dictate that parents may not try to
raise their children in a manner that maximizes the possibility of a
heterosexual outcome?
In light of this, I must ask, Dr.'s Bailey & Throckmorton, precisely
how have we mis-characterized Dr. Zucker's position regarding
preventing or to use his own words, averting a homosexual outcome?
TransActive stands 100% behind our previous statement, and we further
state, unequivocally that:
Gender Identity pre-dates and is independent of Sexual Orientation in children.
Transgender identity in children is rooted in pre-natal development,
as evidenced by both clinical research, historical analysis and
anecdotal information.
Transgender & gender non-conforming children & youth are more
well-adjusted, happier, healthier and more productive when supported
in their expression of their gender identity, including allowing them,
if they so desire, to transition to their target gender.
Dr. Zucker's treatment methods damage children and their families,
including the one recently profiled on the NPR program.
Non-conforming gender identity, including transgender identity, is no
more a 'disorder' than is cisgender identity. It is simply more rare.
Sincerely,
Jenn Burleton
Executive Director
TransActive Education & Advocacy
Portland, OR
