identity disorder of childhood, from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (American Psychological Association, 1994).
Behaviors that would be ordinary or even exemplary for gender conforming boys and girls Katharine Wilson, Ph.D., “Gender Identity Disorder in Children,” http://www.gidreform.org, 3.
Recent revisions of the DSM Katherine Wilson, Ph.D., “The Disparate Classification of Gender and Sexual Orientation in American Psychiatry,” presented at the 1998 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association,” retrieved from http://www.gidreform.org, March 31,2001; Katherine Wilson, Ph.D., “Gender as Illness: Issues of Psychiatric Classification,” in Taking Sides— Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Sex and Gender, E. Paul, ed. (Guilford, Conn.: Dushkin McGraw-Hill, 2000), 31-38. Retrieved from http://www.gidreform.org. See also Justin Cascio, “Bias in Writings on Gender Identity Disorder,” retrieved from TransHealth.com 1, no. 4 (Spring 2002). http://www.trans-health.com/Iss4voL1/research.htm.
boys diagnosed with GID in childhood “The most extensive and detailed of 199 prospective studies was carried out by Richard Green, a psychiatrist at UCLA. In his study, about four-fifths of the markedly effeminate boys became rather conventional homosexual or bisexual men, one boy became a transsexual man, and the remainder became heterosexual men…. Thus the association between childhood gender nonconformity and adult homosexuality is well established, especially in men,” LeVay, Queer Science, 98, discussing Richard Green, The “Sissy Boy Syndrome” and the Development of Homosexuality (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987).
This conclusion has been disputed more recently by some clinicians who treat children and adolescents, for example, Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis, Ph.D., Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center, Utrecht, Netherlands. “Our data show that GID in childhood is associated with more than just one long-term trajectory. Continuation of GID into adolescence by no means seems to be a rare exception. We believe that treatment should be available for all children, regardless of their eventual sexual orientation, and should depend only on the severity of suffering experienced by the child.” In the Netherlands, adolescent children are eligible for hormone treatment if they meet the clinic’s criteria. Cohen-Kettenis notes that of seventy-four children referred to the clinic before the age of twelve, “17 intensely gender dysphoric adolescents applied for sex reassignment…. Of the 17, 3 adolescents have started cross-hormone treatment.” Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis, “Gender Identity Disorder in DSM?” Letter, Journal ofthe Amencan Academy of Childhood and Adolescent Psychiatry 40, no. 4 (April 2001): 391.
American psychiatric perceptions ofetiology, distress, and treatment goals for transgenderedpeople Wilson, “Disparate Classification,” 9.
No single group has gone more unnoticed by society Gianna E. Israel and Donald E. Tarver II, M.D., Transgender Care: Recommended Guidelines, Practical Information and Personal Accounts (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997), 132.
If there is any cure for children or youth with gender-identity issues Ibid., 137.
Parents with resources large or small will spend their last penny Ibid., 134.
Because gender-identity conflicts are still perceived as a mental health disorder Ibid.
or… out on the streets A study of homeless LGBT youths published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2002 concludes that “homeless youths who identify themselves as members of sexual minority groups are at increased risk for negative outcomes” such as “greater vulnerability to physical and sexual victimization, higher rates of addictive substance abuse, more psychopathology, and riskier sexual behavior in comparison with homeless heterosexual adolescents.” Bryan N. Cochran, Angela J. Stewart, Joshua A. Ginzler, and Ana Mari Cauce, “Challenges Faced by Homeless Sexual Minorities: Comparison of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Homeless Adolescents with their Heterosexual Counterparts,” American Journal of Public Health 92, no. 5 (May 2002): 773—77.
Children with gender issues frequently are regarded as unruly or disruptive Israel and Tarver, Transgender Care, 135.
People were really mean to him at school Jeremiah Hall, The Advocate, November 22, 2002.
I had no fiends Author interview with Alyn Liebeman, Philadelphia, Pa., March 21, 2003.
Because isolation and ostracism are key components of transgender youth experience Israel and Tarver, Transgender Care, 133.
skipped over hope, joy, love and anything else positive Scholinski, The Last Time, 93.
wore Toughskinjeans with double-thick knees Ibid., 46.
Linda opened her purse Ibid., 104.
They got to be afraid of me Ibid., 107.
Genderqueer kids present an ideal profile for sexual predators Riki Anne Wilchins, Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender (Ithaca, N.Y.: Firebrand Books, 1997), 130.
The second time I was over, the man kept his hand on my shoulder Scholinski, The Last Time, 132—33.
loo percent… had been physically abused or beaten as children Wilchins, Read My Lips, 24.
such abuse “appears not as an anomaly” Ibid., 305.
I was being physically abused at home all the time Author interview with Brad.
I’d walk up to him close enough so that his angry face was all I could see Scholinski, The Last Time, 2.
I didn’t mind being called a delinquent Ibid., 16.
She held up cards with a picture of a policeman Ibid., 30. 208 Daphne presents a tomboyish appearance Ibid., 56.
Drug addiction offered itself to me like a blanket of forgiveness Ibid., 86.
I sneaked a glance, and it was a jolt Ibid., 119.
Donna wanted me to walk skittery, like a bird Ibid., 124.
I still wonder why I wasn’t treated for my depression Ibid., 197.
The limited evidence suggests that individuals are given DSM diagnoses Kutchins and Kirk, Making Us Cravj, 260.
the designation of Gender Identity Disorders as mental disorders is not a license for stigmativation Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Standards of Care, http://www.hbigda.org/soc.html.
DSM is a red herring Author interview with Beyer.
There’s all this empirical data, exceptional data, data that doesn’t fit their [psychiatric] theory Author interview with Christine Johnson, Philadelphia, Pa., May 13, 2002.
High rates of polycystic ovary syndrome Hartmut A. G. Bosinski, Michael Peter, Gabriele Bonatz, Reinhard Arndt, Haren Heidenreich, Wolfgang G. Sippell, and Reinhard Wille, “A Higher Rate of Hyperandrogenic Disorders in Female-to-Male Transsexuals,” Psychoneuroendocrinology 22, no. 5 (1997): 361-80; A. H. Baien, M. E. Schachter, D. Montgomery, R. W. Reid, and H. S. Jacobs, “Polycystic Ovaries Are a Common Finding in Untreated Female-to-Male Transsexuals,” Clinical Endocrinology 38, no. 3 (1993): 325-29.
Researchers currently view PCOS as a developmental disorder D. H. Abbott, D. A. Dumesic, and S. Franks, “Developmental Origin of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Hypothesis,” Journal ofEndocrinology 174 (2002): 15.
Just because something is in the DSM doesn’t make it a real disease Author
