Heard the news?

[battybattybats]

I guess the media section isn't very popular...
http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1286028&posted=1#post1286028

The people in charge of reviewing GID for the DSM V are not our firends... the Chair of the committee uses ex-gay style conversion therapy on gender varient children!
So we have about 3 years to fight like none of us have ever fought before.

[Teresa Amina]

Are these Psycho professionals politically appointed? Who funds this review? Smells like right wing fanatics at work... :thumbsdn:

[battybattybats]

I don't know but it would be worth finding out.
It's odd that someone who uses reparative therapy (on children!) would be made the chair of the comitee when the organisation that runs it has criticised reparative therapy.

[Valeria]

Are these Psycho professionals politically appointed? Who funds this review? Smells like right wing fanatics at work... :thumbsdn:
The DSM is a diagnostic tool developed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for use by its members. Politicians have no direct say in this matter.

FWIW, two of the workgroup members are much more likely to be sympathetic. Dr. Cohen-Kettenis has been doing groundbreaking work with children with gender issues (transkids) in Europe, and Dr. Drescher is a gay man who is notoriously critical of reparative therapy. AFAICT, the other members are more focused on other sexual issues, so I'm not sure what to expect of them.

[battybattybats]

Two good, two thoroughly evil, one of the evils is the chair and a bunch of question marks.

While Zucker is the chair I doubt we can trust that the others will be able to counter the transphobia he will bring to this.

[RockerTerri]

I plan on watching this with intense interest. That being said, i highly doubt that anything will amount of it. The world has changed, and the sooner the old, outdated stuffed shirts that propose this sort of BS are removed from positions where they can attempt to do harm, the better.

The world HAS changed. Our next president is going to be either a woman or a black man (i apologize to any republicans here, but poor McCain aint gonna make it) neither of them would have even gotten far enough to be mentioned on the news 20 years ago. Also, in those last 20 years, the GLBT community has made huge advances, so much that legal gay/lesbian marriage is a daily topic....and we are winning!

As much as these people like to believe they are protecting "decency" by continuing to regurgitate this 19th century garbage, the overwhelming majority is in favor of rights for everyone, even those who are not gay/lesbian/TS/whatever. This will soon be allowed to expire of its own useless weight, and hopefully those responsible for attempting it will enter retirement at the same time.

Within my lifetime, and maybe even the next 15-20 years, i forsee vast changes in the western world, where our awareness and tolerance will overshadow the level we are at now. Society will have more important things to concern itself with, such as the fact that we will be out of oil in about 50 years, and our population will likely exceed the planet's capacity to feed us in the next 50 as well. Every hybrid car, gay rights march, hydroelectric plant, or discovery of a new planet shows that the internet, access to college education, and the media, while not all perfect, allows people to access information and make their own decisions, and with increasing frequency, enlightened, intelligent decisions. In the late 18th century, when the Encyclopedia was written, it was censored, as it allowed people access to information that the church and other institutions of power simply didnt want them to have. It was but one catalyst that led to a tremendous amount of social and political changes that eventually led to things like constitutional governments across europe and other small things...like the formation of the United States.

The world isnt perfect. 9/11, Iraq, the genocide in central Africa, and 4 dollar a gallon gas fueled by nothing more than greed has really taken its toll on my faith in humanity. I am always amazed at the horrendous things some people will do to further their own aims. And i am always delighted when they fail, in the short term or long. I just dont think people will allow themselves to be led like sheep to pasture anymore.

Sorry for the long winded response, but this sort of thing fires me up. If these idiots cant see past their own agendas and see other people as people with all the dreams, ambitions, and fears that they have, they should NOT be allowed to hold positions of power. Period.

Terri, still believing in America.

PS...why am i not surprised that one of the "professionals" on this "panel" is from Cleveland. Hopefully someone drags Ohio out of the right-enforced stone age, and starts paying attention to issues like our spiraling unemployment rate and crime. I am always amazed when a doctor, or any other person of (supposedly) high intelligence, considers, let alone supports, this sort of thing. Maybe they will try to find and manipulate the chromosomes that make hair blonde and eyes blue while they are at it...

[battybattybats]

Here in Australia the 'christian lobby' got the government to shut down the ACT's plans to enact civil unions. While the government is set to remove a host of discriminations against same-sex couples they have stated in clear terms that marriage equality won't be happening.

Progress isn't inevitable, things can change direction suddenly.

[RockerTerri]

Progress isnt inevitable and that's for sure. A law that passes in one country will sink and die in many others. China enacted a one child policy years ago, and it is widely known (and a blind eye is turned) that many couples that have a girl will throw her in the snow and try again. It certainly dosent make it right, and no other nations have followed suit (or done a thing about it.)

Is it worth worrying about? Hell yes. Im doing some research, and as soon as i find out who to contact that will be worth contacting, i plan to make my feelings known. Not with a pseudo political rant like i went on here, but with a well researched paper in which my voice is strong. I encourage anyone else that wants to help to do the same.

I feel bad for you folks in Oz. Makes you wonder why bills like this seem to appear only after "gun control" acts pass. I was not advocating lying down and ignoring the problem, but i also dont think the sky is falling....yet. It is a whole lot harder to convince the majority that transgendered children need some sort of "reassignment therapy" than it is to convince people that guns are bad. In the wrong hands, a gun is a terrible thing. I have never heard of a gender-confused teenager (or adult, for that matter) doing harm to society. Wars have been started by hate and propaganda, however, which is all these idiots are pushing.

Will keep my eyes on this.

Terri

[battybattybats]

This site has some addresses that may be worth contacting to express your feelings http://drakyn.blogspot.com/2008/05/action-alert.html

[RockerTerri]

Thanks Bats, im gonna get to work on a response to this. Ill PM or mail it to people before sending it to the places i plan to send it, so anything i may have missed or misrepresented can be caught. These morons are just reinforcing my desire to switch my major to psych.

Terri

[Maggie Kay]

I just got this in a post on the Trans-ponder yahoo group.

Here's the latest news concerning the American Psychiatric
Association and the DSM-V GID committee appointments. The APA on
Friday May 9th issued a statement in response to the blitz of emails
from trans-activists expressing their concerns over the APA's earlier
anouncement of the appointments of Dr. Zucker and Dr. Blanchard (who
are known to be very transphobic) to head the work groups tasked with
updating the gender identity disorder section for upcoming DSM-V.

Here's the link to the APA statement:

http://tinyurl.com/6zojra

The good news:

The APA statement does give us a few things to hope about.

1: The APA is responding to the trans community and has not shut us
out (yet). So there is a chance that continuing to voice our very
real concerns to the APA can make a make a difference.

Here is a link to an on line petition to the APA calling for the
removal of Dr's Zucker and Blanchard:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/412001300

And here's the email address to write the APA: public.affairs@apa.org

2: Dr. Peggy T. Cohen Kettenis has been appointed as chairperson of
the The Gender Identity Disorders task force and is rumored to be TG
friendly.

3: DSM-V will not be published until 2012 at the earliest. This gives
us 4 to 5 years to work on this issue.

4: Most of the sub-committee members have yet to be selected. Hop
fully these positions will be filled with people who have a more
modern, scientific and humane view of transsexuality and who can
provide a much needed balance.

The bad news:

1: Dr. Zucker is the chair person and overall head of the GID work
group.

2: Dr. Blanchard is head of the Paraphilias sub-committee.

The transgender community needs to speak out LOUDLY on this issue
with a united voice, if we work together we can make a difference.

Hug's, Tamara Jeanne


We need to respond to this!! I just did,

[Kimberley]

Well we Canucks are kicking both of them in the tush. The trans communities here in Ontario and more specifically Toronto where these two clowns come from, are pushing some buttons. Currently Zucker's position as head of the CAMH clinic in Toronto is being "reviewed" due to pressure from our community. The more bad press these guys get the easier it gets for us. Simple huh?

We are also becoming more political in applying pressure on the provincial government.

Anyways, progress is slow but it is change for the better.

[Kimberley]

The following is a letter I sent to the Minister of Health for Ontario.
************
May 9, 2008



The Honourable George Smitherman MPP
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
80 Grosvenor St, 10th Flr, Hepburn Block
Toronto ON M7A 2C4


Dear Minister Smitherman,
As an Ontarian, I am proud of our contributions toward equality through the Ontario Human Rights Act that eventually led to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I am proud that our courts have held this legislation up to careful scrutiny and I am proud that it stands worldwide as a testament to Canadian values. It is a large part of what makes us Canadian, and it has put Ontario at the forefront of championing human rights.

The late Mr. Justice John Sopinka expressed the Canadian point of view most succinctly when he wrote for the Supreme Court of Canada; "...that human rights legislation is, often the final refuge of the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised. As the last protection of the most vulnerable members of society, exceptions to such legislation should be narrowly construed." (Zurich Insurance Co. v. Ontario (Human Rights Commission), [1992] 2 S.C.R. 321)”

In recent years our Canadian values and way of life has come under heavy attack, not from outside, but from within our own borders. It has manifested itself politically as a result of regional political demands and expanded to a national political position. We have continually watched our Canadian values being eroded by intolerance and ignorance. Ontarians were among the first to see this attack from the Conservative government of Mike Harris. It has continued to expand, unite with other similar groups and grown to the federal system.

Canadians from coast to coast are appalled at the actions of our governments and in some cases, their lack of action to counter this assault on traditional Canadian values. Ontario has to accept its share of guilt.

Prior to the Conservative Ontario Government of Mike Harris, transgender healthcare was sponsored by OHIP beginning in 1969. In its malicious attack on this extremely marginalized community, in 1998 the Harris government removed funding for transgender healthcare and specifically, surgical procedures associated with this condition.

Since that time, The Ontario Human Rights Commission through its tribunal has argued for reinstatement of this funding. (Hogan 2005) The government of Ontario led by our Premier, The Honourable Dalton McGuinty, has done nothing except pay lip service to right this wrong.

Advances in research in the field of transgender have been huge over the past decade. Today, causality is gaining acceptance with the theory of genetics combined with in-utero hormonal release during the first trimester of pregnancy. This research, first reported by researchers at the UCLA Medical Center and published in Molecular Brain Research,2003 Oct. 21 issue, Vol. 118, pgs. 82-90. has since been duplicated. This presents a physiological not psychological cause. Even large portions of the mental health community have endorsed this position despite some peer opposition.

One has to ask how a physiological problem can be treated through psychological means? Simply put; it can't. It would be akin to asking your plumber to fix your electrical panel. This is not to say there aren’t psychological ramifications to being transgender; there are, and they are serious. However they can be treated by any qualified psychiatrist or psychologist because these are problems related to gender, not gender itself. Gender Identity Disorder can only be resolved through surgical process combined with the patient living in his or her true gender role.

Exclusive of government funding, even the process of acquiring Sexual Reassignment Surgery is difficult. There is not a single surgeon performing this complex procedure anywhere in the world who does not ascribe to the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care as laid out by WPATH who is generally accepted as the governing body for transgender healthcare throughout the world. In fact most of these surgeons will exceed the WPATH requirements before performing this surgery.

The need for any singular regional body to oversee transgender care is unnecessary. This was the case with the Clarke Institute and currently with the CAMH programs located in Toronto. A client in a remote area had to travel to the appropriate center in Toronto for approval. Is this to say that physicians elsewhere in the province are unqualified or irresponsible? I should hope the Minister would see the folly of this position. Argument for centralization has to be seen as suspect for self interest.

It is time for Ontario to rejoin its sister provinces in again funding this surgical process in combination with the necessary healthcare for this small group of people. Why must we suffer so despicably because of government inaction? Why does the Ontario government refuse to right this wrong? Have neoconservative values become entrenched in our liberal and social ideals? I hope not.

The time for this government to act is long overdue. I implore the Minister to stand up for equal rights for all Ontarians and restore the funding for transgender health care. It IS the right thing to do.


Sincerely,


Cc:
Mr. Kahlil Ramal MPP
Ministry of Community and Social Services
80 Grosvenor St, 6th Flr, Hepburn Block
Toronto ON M7A 1E9

Ms. France Gelinas MPP
Rm 159, Main Legislative Building
Toronto ON M7A 1A5

[Dawn D.]

Kimberley,

Would you consider moving to the U.S.A. and write a few letters like that to our politicians? Seriously, that is a very powerful letter and one that ought to gain attention. Very well done.



Dawn