Now That France No Longer Considers Transexuals 'Disordered,' Everything Is Cool, Right?
http://www.queerty.com/now-that-france-no-longer-considers-transexuals-disordered-everything-is-cool-right-20100302/Transgender men and women no longer have mental diseases in France! Thanks to last month's declassification, French health officials no longer categorize ->-bleeped-<- alongside bi-polar disorder. This is great news, right?
For the most part yes, because it'll help removes the stigma of being transgender — at least in the medical community. And such a move can also reverberate across cultural and societal lines. But the debate in the U.S., at least, about whether transsexual people have a "gender identity disorder" is often one of logistics. If it's classified as a disorder, private health insurance and Medicaid can be required to pay for treatments. But if it isn't a medically intertwined situation, good luck getting the government to pay for your hormone shots.