1.2 Calling for the de-pathologization of transexuality
SPW is contributing to the global campaign for the de-pathologization of transexuality. Since October 2009, SPW and its Latin American partners have been involved in the drafting and revision of the statement, which is now being made pubic (Read it in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish).
This effort must be situated within the broader context; since May 2009, a number of other constituencies have raised their voices in calling for key medical professional associations, such as the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to abandon the current framework that describes and addresses transexuality strictly as a biomedical “disorder.”
These efforts have already had a major policy impact, as in February 2010, France removed transexuality from its national listing of psychiatric disorders. SPW’s statement is to be seen as a contribution to the global campaign emerging from a diverse range of researchers and activists in Latin America.
Check below other documents currently being circulated:
> Commentary: “What exactly is gender incongruence?” by Juan Carlos Jorge, PhD.
> The Campaign against Gender Identity Pathologization: Stop Trans Pathologization 2012, from ILGA website
> The statement written by the Latin American Network for Trans Men’s in Activism (only in Spanish)
> The Statement on Despathologization of Transsexualism, written during the Sexual Diversity section of the Cuban Multidisciplinary Society for the Study of Sexuality (SOCUMES), based on a proposal made by the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) [In English] [In Spanish]
> DSM-V Draft, from the ‘Questioning Transphobia‘ blog
> France move to outlaw Trans Pathologization, from Facebook
> Transsexualism No Longer Viewed as Mental Illness in France, from NY Times
> HIV experts call for declassification of transgenderism as mental illness, from PinkNews
Check also the opinions of the Latin American activists Mauro Cabral and Fernanda Benvenutty on the de-pathologization campaign (in Spanish or Portuguese).
