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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Using a sensationalistic headline about “sex change treatment to kids,” Fox News profiled Dr. Norman Spack of Boston’s Children’s Hospital, noted for his progressive clinic for trans youth. Though he is pictured in the article and quoted extensively, “Spack would not grant an interview to FOXNews.com and the Boston’s Children’s Hospital declined to respond.” In addition to Spack, Fox Reporters Hillary Viders and Joseph Abrams cite:
• Irene Sills, Senior Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of New York
• Stephanie Brill, co-author of “The Transgender Child”
Sills and Brill note the benefits of early intervention for trans youth.
Then out comes the loyal opposition:
• Paul McHugh, psychiatrist and Bush advisor who shut down the Johns Hopkins trans health services program in the 1970s
• Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a legal charity affiliated with the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University
• Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense
McHugh derides helping trans children as “barbaric” and has described transgender surgeries as “mutilation.” Those who seek to “cure” gender-variant children via reparative therapy or to deny these children health services have been in the news lately, following the appointment of reparative therapist Ken Zucker to to Chair the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders work group that will revise and develop the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
Full article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356592,00.html
(Hat tip to Lynn Conway at Trans News Updates)
This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 05/20 at 07:35 AM
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Monday, May 19, 2008
PFLAG notes:
‘This is Our Love Story’ Campaign Will Debut This Summer
WASHINGTON, May 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/—Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) announced today that it will debut a new ad campaign this summer featuring transgender actress and activist Calpernia Addams. The campaign, titled This Is Our Love Story, highlights PFLAG’s long-time commitment to the transgender community and urges supporters to help “transform the movement” by joining the organization’s work for transgender rights. Ads will begin appearing in pride guides this summer, and will be featured, through in-kind advertising from supporting publications, in other outlets over the coming months.
“We are so proud to have Calpernia working with PFLAG as we move equality forward for our friends, family and allies in the transgender community,” said Jody M. Huckaby, PFLAG’s executive director. “Calpernia has been tireless in her efforts to educate the larger community about the importance of fully including transgender people in our fight for equality. PFLAG has never wavered in our commitment to the transgender community, and our partnership with Calpernia underscores our deep commitment to transgender issues and our recognition that transgender people have always been a part of our families.”
Addams, who starred in LOGO’s Trans American Love Story and was the subject of the Showtime film Soldier’s Girl, is also a decorated war veteran and a long-time advocate for transgender rights. She also appeared in the Academy Award-nominated film TransAmerica and on the hit television series Deadwood and CSI. She is also the manager, along with Andrea James, of Deep Stealth Productions, producing media with an awareness of the truth and value of trans people’s contributions to society. Deep Stealth’s Valentine’s Day 2004 benefit production of The Vagina Monologues was a sold-out success in Hollywood under the direct support of playwright Eve Ensler and mentor Jane Fonda.
“I am grateful to PFLAG for their deep commitment to the transgender community and excited about the opportunity to educate our community about PFLAG’s important work on behalf of transgender Americans,” Addams said. “PFLAG was the first national LGBT organization to include transgender people in its mission statement, and has adopted a landmark policy to only support legislation that includes the transgender community. They are a champion for equality and an irreplaceable ally for transgender people. Their love story with our community is long and significant, and I am proud to help them tell it through this remarkable campaign.”
Addams announced the partnership today at http://www.calpernia.com/. A PFLAG website, titled Transform the Movement, will also be launched later this summer, in conjunction with the campaign, at http://www.pflag.org. The site, like the campaign, will highlight PFLAG’s work in the community and showcase the stories of transgender people who have worked with PFLAG on equality issues.
PFLAG promotes the health and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and friends through: support, to cope with an adverse society; education, to enlighten an ill-informed public; and advocacy, to end discrimination and to secure equal civil rights. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. For more information, visit http://www.pflag.org.
Website: http://www.calpernia.com/
Website: http://www.pflag.org/
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Posted by Andrea James on 05/19 at 08:28 PM
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Another antidote to the problematic and harsh reparative therapy which Ken Zucker performs on trans youth in Toronto’s notorious Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH Clarke Institute).
http://www.cleispress.com/book_page.php?book_id=242
Kara Wuest notes:
May 19, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kara Wuest, Publicity Director
kwuest@cleispress.com
(415) 575-4700
A comprehensive, first-of-its-kind guidebook for the unique challenges that thousands of families face raising children who step outside of the pink or blue box
The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals
by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper
What will happen when your son insists on wearing a dress to school? What do you do when your toddler daughter’s first sentence is that she’s a boy? Is this ever just a phase? How can you explain your child to neighbors and family? How can you best raise your gender-variant or transgender child with love and compassion, even if you barely understand the issues ahead? Offering an extensive understanding of gender-variant and transgender youth, The Transgender Child answers these questions and more.
Providing extensive research and interviews as well as years of experience working in the field, authors Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper explore what is currently known and understood about gender. They describe the process that many families go through after learning that a child is transgender or gender variant and lay out strategies for parents to move from crisis to acceptance. Brill and Pepper cover developmental stages of the transgender child from birth to college, transition decisions, appropriate disclosure, and the educational, medical, and legal issues that parents and therapists need to know.
“The Transgender Child is a ground-breaking book. It is a sophisticated and sympathetic look at a world unknown to many of us. Families with transgender children often suffer because of society’s prejudices. This book opens a door and shines a light on members of society who deserve the compassion and understanding of us all.”
—Peggy O’Mara, Editor and Publisher of Mothering Magazine
“A ‘must read’ for the families I see. I will suggest that parents provide copies to their school nurses and administrators. I will also recommend it to my colleagues in pediatrics and adolescent medicine. As a pediatrician, I find no greater pleasure than helping children grow and develop into happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults. This resource will help me in that goal for gender-variant and transgender youth.”
—Irene N. Sills, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, SUNY - Upstate Medical University, Joslin Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology
Chapters:
Forward by Dr. Norman Spack of Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School
Is My Child Transgender?
Family Acceptance: From Crisis to Empowerment
Developmental Stages and the Transgender Child
Start Where You Are: Moving from Damaging to Effective Parenting Practices
Transition Decisions: When Should I Let My Child Live as Their Preferred Gender?
Disclosure: Whom to Tell, How, Why, and When
The Educational System and Your Family
Medical Issues for Transgender Children
Legal Issues to Consider
About the authors:
STEPHANIE BRILL is the founder of Gender Spectrum Education and Training, which provides education, resources and training to create a more gender-sensitive and supportive environment for all children. She founded and runs the Children’s Hospital Oakland Support Group for parents of gender-variant and transgender children and teens. She also co-produces a national conference, Gender Spectrum Family (genderspectrumfamily.org), for families with gender-variant and transgender children. Brill wrote The Queer Parents Primer (New Harbinger Press) and co-authored The New Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy, and Birth (Alyson).
RACHEL PEPPER is the Coordinator of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at Yale University. An award-winning journalist and an editor at Curve Magazine, she is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians (Cleis Press) and co-author of The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life (Princeton Review).
The Transgender Child by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper June 2008
$16.95 Trade paper ISBN 978-1-57344-318-0 270pp 5.5 x 8.5”
Contact: Kara Wuest Cleis Press (415) 575-4700 kwuest@cleispress.com http://www.cleispress.com/book_page.php?book_id=242
This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.
Posted by Andrea James on 05/19 at 12:13 PM
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Reverend Linda Miskimen has written a position statement opposing involvement in Ken Zucker and Ray Blanchard in the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders work group for the DSM-V revision.
Full article (PDF)
zucker_APA.pdf
Reverend Linda Miskimen, Doctor of Philosophy in Religion, Circle Ministries, Bloomington MN.
http://www.circleministries.org
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Posted by Andrea James on 05/19 at 05:52 AM
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Dr. Shelley Janiczek Woodson notes:
Why Kenneth J. Zucker Should Resign as Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Chair
By Shelley Janiczek Woodson, Ph.D.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) recently announced the names of members of work groups who will review information to be used in the development of the fifth edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Kenneth J. Zucker, Ph.D. was appointed Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Chair. Dr. Zucker is best known for his work in “treating” hundreds of gender-variant children with “reparative therapy,” a “curative” approach to Gender Identity Disorder that is variously considered to be treatment of choice, ill advised or tantamount to child abuse by professionals in the mental health and human service fields.
How was Dr. Zucker chosen for this position? According to APA President Carolyn B. Robinowitz, M.D., “The work group members were chosen for their expertise in research and clinical care.” By these criteria, Dr. Zucker is a good choice. While I strongly disagree with a number of conclusions Dr. Zucker draws from his research data, and I contend that the phrases “reparative therapy” and “clinical care” do not belong in the same sentence, I think it illogical to conclude that Dr. Zucker is not an expert in the field of disorders of gender identity. He is an expert insomuch as he possesses special skills and knowledge in the area, acquired from training and experience.
It is notable that ethical qualities and expertise are separate issues. Recall that in 1946, twenty-three German physicians were prosecuted for participating in war crimes and crimes against humanity. These doctors used their expertise to conduct experiments on prisoners without their consent, and to design and execute a “Euthanasia” Program, systematically killing people they believed to be “unworthy of life.” At the time, these physicians were considered to be leaders in their field, experts.
My position regarding the appointment of Dr. Zucker is that, even though he is a well-known expert in the field of disorders of gender identity, he should recuse himself from participating as a work group or task force member. To put it simply, he should recuse himself because he has a dog in the fight.
The APA reports having made a significant effort to avoid conflicts of interest in the development of DSM-V. For example, all work group and task force members were required to disclose any relationships they may have with people or organizations that have an interest in psychiatric diagnoses and treatments. “We have made every effort to ensure that DSM-V will be based on the best and latest scientific research, and to eliminate conflicts of interest in its development,” explained Dr. Robinowitz.
In fairness, it could be argued that any mental health professional working with and/or studying transgender people has some inherent level of conflict of interest in the revision or elimination of the controversial diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder. I, for example, am a bisexual psychologist who specializes in transgender issues; I am married to a transgender person. The difference between a psychologist like myself and Dr. Zucker is that I do not have a vested professional and financial interest in recommending the continued pathologizing of transgender people through the DSM system, nor do I have a vested interest in de-pathologizing transgender people for that matter. My professional identity and my financial livelihood do not depend upon the continuation of this diagnosis. For Dr. Zucker, there is a clear conflict of interest, exactly the sort of conflict of interest that the APA claims to have so diligently worked to avoid.
Dr. Zucker has a dog in the fight. And what a fight it is, with some psychologists and psychiatrists viewing gender identity disorders as serious mental illnesses and a growing number asserting that there is no disorder here at all, rather there is dis-ease with people who do not fit into an artificial binary gender system. Add the voices of a large transgender community, and a fight for human rights waged against a very powerful organization might actually become a fair one.
For his part, Dr. Zucker contends that “transexuality” is a “bad outcome.” He further warns parents of gender-variant children of the “relation between GID and a later homosexual sexual orientation.” For Dr. Zucker, homosexuality is yet another “bad outcome.” I assert that, if one is in the business of “curing” transgender people, and business is booming, then the removal of Gender Identity Disorder from the DSM is most certainly, for them, a very “bad outcome.” Dr. Zucker advises parents of gender-variant boys: “The Barbies have to go.” My advice to the APA: “Dr. Zucker has to go.”
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Posted by Andrea James on 05/19 at 05:51 AM
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