Some of the greatest enemies to the Trans community are now on the board to rewrite the DSM manual for 2012. They see us as freaks and perverts.
Here’s some background:
Hi friends, family, and allies:
Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this message, but better too many than your missing this important announcement.
If you have not already heard, a dangerous thing happened this week that poses a very serious threat to the transgender and allied community, and could potentially impact lesbian, gay, bisexual, and allied people as well.
The American Psychological Association (APA) recently appointed Dr. Kenneth Zucker to chair the task force responsible for updating of mental health language and treatment of diagnoses such as Gender Identity Disorder (GID) for the upcoming DSM-V (Diagnostics and Statistics Manual, Fifth Edition).
Don’t let his recent appearance on NPR sounding like a nice guy fool you. At a time when the American Medical Association (AMA) is supporting stopping discriminating against and stigmatizing transgender people, Dr. Zucker is a widely recognized proponent of reparation (“ex-gayâ€) and aversion therapy for children and youth. These techniques have been proven to be ineffective at best and–more often–severely damaging to the mental health of people who are LGB or T.
Please see the article that follows for more information.
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Dr. Zucker holds the fate of our young people in his hands. WE MUST ALL TAKE ACTION to remove Dr. Zucker as well as his cronies from this all-important APA working group, based upon his approach to clinical treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming identity in children & youth.
Please sign this petition to remove the most outrageous members from the DSM-V GID committee, and then the link on to everyone you know:
http://www.thepetit ionsite.com/ petition/ 412001300
Here’s a good Reference.
Dear readers, I’m a decent Human Being, I don’t hurt folks, but what is getting ready to go down is a sending of my kind back to the Dark Ages. They can’t really hurt me… I’m Intersexed, but they can mess everything up for many of my sisters and brothers. We are not insane and we are not “sick”… we just wish to live our lives as we see them.
Ya’s know I’m Trans, so’ here the opening salvo: http://www.betty-and-morwens-treehouse.org/owlvira.htm
Here’s my take on the jerks: http://www.betty-and-morwens-treehouse.org/vs.htm
Darlin’s, I hate having to go here. I thought I was past defending my life and feelings, but that isn’t true: they are going to screw us again. I am not in danger: I’m too well established for them to shake my tree. I’m worried about the ones to come. (Soon I’ll post about the poisoining of our eco-system that helps create these scenarios.)
I don’t normally ask for help about this topic, but this time it is very important. This is not about me, but about the kids who are like me years ago.
Please sign this petition.
Zucker is a maniac. Thanks for posting this.
Comment by Holly — May 11, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
Sweetie, I will fight this battle like I have done the others. Life is Life.
Each and everyone of us are different creatures. Who’s to say what is right or wrong. It took me 35 years to come to my “place”. My desire was to stay in the Hard Sciences, but I had to go here and to move into the Social world.
I will not allow that to happen to the ones to come.
This is not a battle I wanted to face, but I’m more than ready to tackle this.
My sisters and brothers are gearing up for this fight. It sucks that we have to defend our lives again.
What is wrong about me working on my gardens, cooking foods and just living my life? No one has the right to condemn me and my kind for our lives. We just are ourselves, and that should be enough, but the “experts” are coming after us again.
This time,they are going to see the face of Hell. I AM, and that’s all that matters.
Comment by Morwen Madrigal — May 12, 2008 @ 12:42 am
Signed darlin’!!! Thanks for the alert! The freaks are the ones that deny other people the right to be themselves.
Hugs,
Elspeth
Comment by Elspeth R — May 12, 2008 @ 11:01 am
This shit is not based on the experience of trans people, research, or clinical practice (well, not compassionate and informed practice). It’s just plain hateful, an attempt to criminalize and make shameful what a few straight men do not understand or find “distasteful.”
What I want to know is when homophobia, racism, and misogyny will be in the DSM. All 3 are based on and perpetuated by irrational beliefs and thought patterns and result in almost compulsive behaviors and fears.
Comment by G Bitch — May 12, 2008 @ 3:27 pm
GB,
Bingo Darlin’! This what all of this is about.
Attacking the Gays and Lesbians doesn’t work anymore: my tribe is considered the enemy now… the shock troops.
I’m going to have to Blog the history on this.
Comment by Morwen Madrigal — May 12, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
Did you know? Your humble servant once did some data analysis for the team at Yale that got Asperger’s placed into DSM-IV.
If you have any more dirt, um, I mean information, on this Dr. Sucker, you can send it to my email, which you should have from my recent rant about Gentilly (the neighborhood), thence to be forwarded to various and sundry former colleagues, including at least one in Canada.
Comment by KamaAina — May 13, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
Signed. Forwarded to as many like-minded folks I could find in my addy book.
Comment by virgotex — May 16, 2008 @ 9:06 am
Thanks folks! Right now the signatures are approaching 4,300, and many of the signers are not Trans. There are many comments coming from intelligent people who work in the profession.
There are many of us activists for our tribe working together more than we ever had before. We are assembling the the army, an army that has many good voices within it… and tons of heart.
And as long as we have friends and allies the war shall be won. Like I always say, this is for the ones to come.
Be Blessed!
Comment by Morwen Madrigal — May 16, 2008 @ 3:06 pm