GID and Transgender Links
Regarding my "Born to Choose" post, a friend gently suggested the whole discussion gets more complex, thorny, and controversial if you include discussion of transgender issues. This is very true, and though I had considered adding something about the controversy over Gender Identity Disorder (GID), my knowledge of that subject is superficial, and I figured I was going out on enough of a limb already that I probably shouldn't risk inadvertently simplifying a subject so vital to people's lives and livelihoods.
My friend made the useful distinction (which she says may have come from Julia Serano) between de-pathologization of transgenderism and de-medicalization of it, with the former being desirable and the latter not so much, given how much distress trans people can be in before they can get support or therapy, or before they are able to transition.
Though I can't offer an informed opinion on this topic, what I can do is provide some links to discussions of GID by people more knowledgeable than I. Please add others in the comments if you know of any.
My friend made the useful distinction (which she says may have come from Julia Serano) between de-pathologization of transgenderism and de-medicalization of it, with the former being desirable and the latter not so much, given how much distress trans people can be in before they can get support or therapy, or before they are able to transition.
Though I can't offer an informed opinion on this topic, what I can do is provide some links to discussions of GID by people more knowledgeable than I. Please add others in the comments if you know of any.
- A short answer to the question, "Is transgenderism a disability?" from the LGBT Resource Center at Northwestern University.
- "Is Transgender Pain a Disorder -- or a Symptom", an article from the NC Independent Weekly
- The American Psychological Association's "Answers to Your Questions about Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity"
- "The Medicalization of Transgenderism" from Trans-Health.com
- Wikipedia's LGBT portal, Gender Studies category, list of transgender-related topics, and entries on GID and Intersexuality.
- GID Reform Advocates
- "Transgender Identity Affirmation and Mental Health" from The International Journal of Transgenderism
- Some articles and essays about GID and transgenderism by a trans psychologist
- Information on differences between transsexuality and intersexuality from the Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) Support Group of Australia
- An academic essay from 1997, "The Challenge of 'Gender Identification Disorder'" by Debra Shogan