The American Psychiatric Association : Being Transgender Is No Longer a Disorder
The American Psychiatric Association : Being Transgender Is No Longer a Disorder Being Transgender Is No Longer a Disorder By J. Bryan Lowder | Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, at 6:21 PM ET Unsurprisingly, many in the transgender community see the label “disorder” as having a similarly restrictive effect on their fight against discrimination. But leaving the fraught term behind may bring some harm along with the good. The Associated Press reported that the American Psychiatric Association’s Board of Trustees approved certain notable changes to that body’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders on Saturday. The story began with the controversial announcement that Asperger’s syndrome will now be included in the autism spectrum disorder category, but another change buried at the bottom of the piece may prove to be even more divisive—and, if historical precedent is any indication, more influential on society at large. Since the third edition of the DSM was published in 1
