France to Declassify Transsexuality as a Mental Illness
On the day before the International Day Against Homophobia, French Minister of Health Roselyne Bachelot wanted to send a "strong signal" to the world about homophobia and, in particular, transsexuality. Mme. Bachelot announced today that French health services will no longer classify transsexuality as a mental illness. A spokesman for the Ministry of Health clarified the move by saying that there will remain a medical classification for transsexuality because transsexual individuals still require specialized medical care. Trans groups across the nation welcomed the move and hope that the World Health Organization (WHO) will follow France's lead. In 1996, the WHO listed transsexualism in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD 10) as a "disorder of sexual identity." The Collective Against Homophobia hailed the the French government's move today as a milestone for transgender people, who "will no longer be stigmatized and considered by France as the mentally ill." However, some groups remain cautious, saying that symbolic gestures need to be followed by deliberate actions, specifically easing the transition process from the civil and legal perspectives. The fight against transphobia is the theme of this year's International Day Against Homophobia, which takes place annually on May 17. Vive la France!
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This is a real tragedy. After
This is a real tragedy. After seeing the behaviour of many people who take part in Gay Pride Parades, one could only hope for a solution that would allow acting-out people to have some hope to a productive and fruitful life. Ignoring or denying the existence of an emotional upset is NOT a solution and only contributes to the disorder and aids in the individual decline into self destruction.
accepting reality or projecting your prejudices?
de-pathologizing transexuality - and by inference all non-binary sexualities and gender classifications - is the first step i have seen an institution on the scale of a Nation State (and an old colonial one, at that!) take toward a sane, safe, and supportive acceptance of the reality of sexual expression. humanity is not divided into gay and straight, boys and girls, right and wrong, etc. it is complex, it is paradoxical, it is infinite, and all behaviors fall on a spectrum. all point on this spectrum are real, and people who identify as trans, as bi, as gay, as hetero all have the same value and worth as humans.
i am wary of any criticism which does not interrogate the harm caused by pathologizing sexual difference - and you 'sir' seem to be particularly guilty of this. your criticism reeks of personal discomfort, projection of an un-interrogated standard of Normal Sexual Values, and cloaks this discrimination in the guise of a concerned citizen. yes, some people who identify as LGBT etc are acting out - they are in fact a severely oppressed minority, and since when does an oppressed minority NOT have high levels of stress, insecurity, fear, and other life-de-stabilizing influences? but if this is your main concern, why aren't you decrying the mental status of Heterosexuality, when statistically there are far more instances of 'acting out' behaviors perpetrated by heterosexual people?
in other words, stop projecting your values onto other people while pretending to support them and their 'health' - no one if fooled and you are the one who ends in looking foolish.
the quicker you accept the reality of sexual diversity, the quicker we will all be free from sexual repression, discrimination, and unhappiness. get with the program 'dude', you're slowing us down.
in love and rage,
Sassy