Disordered Identities: The Focus of Pathology
Link7/7/2008
"Two weeks after the American Medical Association passed a historic resolution supporting health insurance coverage for gender confirming endocrine and surgical care [1], Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations slurred this medically necessary care as "mutilation" by stereotyping transsexual women and men as mentally ill,
"...mutilation of the body is wrong, and it's sad that these people have this psychological disorder — but it should be treated from a psychological perspective," [2] What is truly sad, this derogatory stereotype is rooted in flaws of the classification of Gender Identity Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Indeed, the focus of pathology in successive revisions of the DSM has shifted further from gender dysphoria (defined here as a persistent distress with one's current or anticipated physical sexual characteristics or current ascribed gender role [3]) toward nonconformity with assigned birth sex [4]. Consequently, barriers to social legitimacy and access to transition related medical care remain insurmountable for many gender dysphoric individuals."
