In this piece for Everyday Feminism, Sam Dylan Finch discusses the oppression and obstacles he has experienced as a trans person in the mental health system.
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I take it we’re not going to be Szaszian on the transgender debate here, because I think the uncritical acceptance of psychiatric/medical discourse around gender dysphoria in this piece is dangerous and likely harmful.
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What the heck is “the transgender debate”?
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The debate? For starters, is the urge to change genders adaptive or maladaptive? Is this urge something that ought to be facilitated? Questioned?Discouraged? Explored?
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Adaptive or maladaptive to what?
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Good question
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Just to be clear, I don’t understand why there is any “debate” about this. It seems obvious to me that if a person experiences gender dysphoria, then they ought to be supported in whatever ways they find most helpful.
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It may seem obvious to you, but it certainly does not seem obvious to everyone. Hence the debate.
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I’m interested in who determines whether someone is “officially” transgender. Psychiatrists? Who is considered the “authority” on this?
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As with all transgender issues, the ultimate authority rests with random cisgender people on the internet. :/
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Uprising
You and Oldhead give me hope and you make me laugh. I agree with you totally in that there should be no debate on this since it is something that should be defined and decided by the individuals affected and by no one else.
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Right on, Stephen! 🙂
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Right on. Debate is bad. Down with dialogue.
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Naw, debate is great. We can have “the transgender debate,” and when we are done, we can revive “the homosexual debate” just for old times’ sake. Many of the same arguments appear in both anyway.
(Should I be worried that you won’t detect the sarcasm?)
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Naw, sarcasm is fairly easy to detect and is regularly employed by folks who are unwilling/unable to engage in dialogue.
What the heck is the “homosexual debate?”
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Athena, I’m still here and I still have no idea what you want to debate or discuss. Anyhow, it was probably unwise of me to reply with snark to your earlier snarky comment. You seem to be able to go on indefinitely that way and I can’t.
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Actually it was a serious question.
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I guess the answer would depend on what you meant by “officially.”
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For example, in cases where someone is about to change their anatomy (which I know is a sub-group of those who identify as transgender), doesn’t the surgeon rely on a medical authority besides the patient to “sign off” with an expert opinion that the person has the “wrong” genitals? If so, what would that person’s “credentials” be?
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Okay, if the question is about who the gatekeeper for medical transition usually is, then I think it would be a therapist, as doctors typically want a letter from one before they will even prescribe hormone replacement therapy. There are informed-consent clinics in some places, though.
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So the ultimate expert authority to greenlight a medical transition is a mental health worker with licensure to apply “diagnostic” labels, eh? Sounds about right.
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Yes, it evolved that way because trans people used to be considered “mentally ill” by psychiatry.
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