Gender teams need to quit diagnosing trans* people

The press release of the Amsterdam gender team they sent out on Wednesday December 18, stating they cannot treat all the people who applied in recent times constitutes a brilliant opportunity to stop diagnosing trans people with gender dysphoria and start an informed consent based treatment process. The day after the glorious victory of the …

Spanish trans activists start hunger strike

From midnight tonight six trans* activists In Andalusia, Spain will start a permanent hunger strike until either the bill for better trans legislation that is stuck, will be really introduced in Parliament or until they die.

Trans kids need support not diagnosis

October 19, 2013 is the international day on the depathologisation, declaring not a disorder but a positive diversity, of trans people. And because of high level developments in the World Health Organisation, that is responsible for revising the International Classification of Diseases, that is used for understanding what is a sickness, a disease, a disorder – be …

Why the change in the DSM-5 doesn’t mean much

The last word on this may not yet be said, but the people shouting victory over what for The American Psychiatric Association is a big step but just a very tiny one for humankind, means some clear language is needed to provide an exit out of this quagmire of pathologisation, half depathologisation and repathologisation. Once …

Entanglements

This post highlights some nasty details hiding in the shades of the current Dutch transgender bill, as imposed upon Dutch trans people by obscure deliberations between the Justice ministry and the gender teams. Where informed consent on the one hand is the only criterion for LGR, the gender teams through a back door still have their say …

“Wat diagnostiseren, waarvoor zorg verlenen”: basisproblemen in de diagnostische fase

“Op geestelijk terrein is degene die vraagt, zich beroept, smeekt, abnormaal” Franz Fanon, Piel negra, mascaras blancas 2008:134) De diagnostische fase vormt een punt van controverse in de medische praktijk rond transseksuelen. De functie van de diagnostiek zelf staat ter discussie, als we accepteren dat er geen enkele reden is om vol te houden dat …

Geen transformatie van het zorgmodel zonder ander paradigma: van transseksualiteit naar transfobie

Het is 2008. Onder de titel Answers to your Questions about Transgender Indivduals and Gender Identitiy toont de werkgroep over genderidentiteit van de American Psychological Association (APA) een stap voorwaarts in het debat over geestesziekte: ze verklaart zonder voorbehoud dat de transgender conditie geen geestesziekte per se is.