National
APA modifies Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis
Replaces ‘Gender Identity Disorder’ with ‘Gender Dysphoria’
Dana Beyer (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Advocates welcomed the American Psychiatric Association’s decision on Saturday to remove Gender Identity Disorder from its list of mental disorders.
The APA specifically removed GID from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel (DSM) of Mental Disorders and replaced it with Gender Dysphoria.
The organization, which represents more than 36,000 psychiatrists from around the world, has revised the DSM five times since it was founded in 1844. The latest revision process began 15 years ago.
Transgender activist Dana Beyer, who worked on the task force that wrote the new language the APA adopted with the Washington Psychiatric Society, said the removal of GID from the DSM is comparable to the organization’s declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973.
“What we did in that workgroup and what other activists have been pushing for is reconceptionalizing the state of being trans from a mental illness,” she told the Washington Blade. Beyer added this change will have implications for children who see a therapist for GID to trans activists fighting against what she described as “fundamental opposition” in state legislatures. “We are no longer mentally ill and that has huge implications just as it did for homosexuality in 1973. It’s absolutely game-changing.”
Michael Silverman, executive director of the New York-based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said opponents of trans rights often used the term “disorder” as a “weapon to deny transgender individuals equal rights and equal treatment.” Doctor Jillian Weiss of Ramapo University in New Jersey agreed as she described the DSM revisions as a “step in the right direction.”
Psychiatrists and other medical providers had begun to commonly diagnose trans patients with GID by the early 1990s — the APA added it to the DSM when it revised it for the third time in 1987. The diagnoses, however, remain controversial among some trans advocates.
Kelley Winters of the group GID Reform Advocates told the Blade the change in title from Gender Identity Disorder to Gender Dysphoria signifies the “problem to be treated is not the person’s identity,” but rather “the distress that is often experienced by those who need access to medical transition care.” She further noted the new terminology remains within what she described as a “manual of disorder.”
She also criticized the APA for not removing the “Transvestic Disorder” category she asserts remains defamatory to cross-dressers and transsexuals in a post on the Bilerico Project on Wednesday.
Winters welcomed, however, the move to change GID to Gender Dysphoria in the DSM.
“This change in title is significant because it actually signals a change of attitude within the APA that our gender identities are no longer considered the focus of pathology,” she told the Blade. “That change is not insignificant. It carries a message. Despite this forward progress, the sad fact remains that trans and especially transsexual folks needing hormonal or surgical transition care are still classified as mentally disordered.”
Advocates remain hopeful the proposed revisions will allow trans people to have increased access to quality health care.
“It is imperative that transgender people who experience dysphoria have access to medical care to treat it. Unfortunately, that has rarely been the case,” Silverman said. “As the American Medical Association has stated, the denial of medical care for patients with Gender Dysphoria is discriminatory and must be stopped.”
Weiss agreed.
“The term ‘disorder’ gave the impression that people with this condition had an illness that made them dangerous or incompetent,” she said. “Of course, there is much to say about this, and whether the change will impact medical and social practices remains to be seen.”
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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