Remove Crossdressing from the DSM-V

A petition to remove cross-dressing as a mental disorder is being submitted to the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Currently the APA considers individuals who crossdress to be suffering from "transvestic disorder"

Crossdressing should not be considered a mental disorder for a host of reasons. The diagnostic criteria operates on sexist and gender conformist principles. People who crossdress present no harm to themselves and/or others and are not conflicted about their desire to dress. The only distress associated with crossdressing is the unfair stigmatization that comes from a society that does not accept nor understand this behavior.

Sign the DSM-V petition demanding that the new APA manual remove 'transvestic disorder'

Stop Trans Pathologization 2012

The Trans Depathologization Network is working for the removal of the Gender Identity Disorder category from the international diagnosis manuals (the DSM and the ICD).

The five demands of the STP-2012 campaign are as follows:

1. The retirement of GID from the international diagnosis manuals (their next versions DSM-V and ICD-11)
2. The retirement of sex mention in the official documents
3. The abolition of the binary normalization treatments to intersex people
4. Free access to hormonal treatments and surgery (without the psychiatric monitoring)
5. The fight against transphobia: working for education, social and labour insertion for trans people

Protests will take place all over the world the 17th of October 2009. If you want to support this campaign send an email to stp2012@gmail.com.

Crossposted via Bird of Paradox

Asexuals Push for Greater Recognition Via the DSM

The video below features asexual activists David Jay and Andrew Hinterliter discussing the push for change of DSM which currently consider asexuality a pathology.



If you know of a an asexual friendly therapist or someone researching human sexuality, let info@asexual.org know, and they can be included in the project.

H/T to Apositive.

Keep Up Pressure on APA Over the Gender Identity Task Force

The American Psychiatric Association is currently in the process of putting out their new Diagnostic Statistical Manual which deals with all aspects of psychiatric disorders and issues. Currently transgender people are unfairly labeled as having "Gender Identity Disorder" even though the research goes to show that this is not a disorder but yet a variation of the human condition. People on the task force such as Dr. Kenneth Zucker are advocates of "reparative therapy" and are promoting the notion that gender variance is a mental illness.

Please contact the APA about this and demand trans-friendly and LGBT friendly individuals be put on the panel discussing Gender Identity.

Call Toll-Free: 1-888-35-PSYCH

Click here to email officials at the APA

Petition to get APA to Review Stance on Asexuality

The American Psychiatric Association is meeting to review their definition, standards and practices with regards to many topics. The two we are most interested in is Gender Identity and Sexuality. The following is a petition I created to get the APA to review their stance on Asexuality and not consider it a mental disorder. Asexual people are fully capable of living healthy and normal lives and should not be pathologized.

Asexual people and Allies please spread the word about the petition...

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/87/petition-for-apa-to-review-stance-on-asexuality

U.K. Demonstration Against Kenneth Zucker

Demonstration against Ken Zucker (the man who proposes reparative therapy for gender variant kids)

October 1st, 8.30am, The Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE

The demo is organized in cooperation with the Police and will take place outside the Royal Society of Medicine.

(Just behind Debenhams/House of Fraser, Nearest tubes are Bond Street and Oxford Circus)