The Burden of Proof: The Politics of Gender, Science, and the DSM

[Shana A]

The Burden of Proof: The Politics of Gender, Science, and the DSM
Filed by: Guest Blogger
October 24, 2008 2:00 PM

http://www.bilerico.com/2008/10/the_burden_of_proof_the_politics_of_gend.php

Editors' note: Kelley Winters, Ph.D. is a writer on issues of transgender medical policy, founder of GID Reform Advocates and an Advisory Board Member for the Matthew Shepard Foundation and TransYouth Family Advocates. She has presented papers on the psychiatric classification of gender diversity at the annual conventions of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Counseling Association and the Association of Women in Psychology.

kelley winters.jpgIn the movie Ghostbusters professor Peter Venkman, played by Bill Murray, deflected questions with a quip,

    Back off, man. I'm a scientist.

In the reality of human gender diversity, the current diagnostic categories of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and Transvestic Fetishism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) convey a presumption that internal gender identity or social gender expression that vary from assigned birth sex roles are intrinsically pathological and sexually deviant. Their authors and supporters have defended this axiom by disparaging skeptical criticism and indignation as "attack" on science and academic expression. Thus, the premise of "disordered" gender identity has ascended to the level of dogma in American psychiatry and psychology, imposing a near-impossible burden of proof upon contrary evidence, dissenting opinion and especially upon transitioned individuals to demonstrate our legitimacy in our affirmed roles.