Medical Report on the Affidavits of William Jenkins
This report was written and presented in response to the affidavits of William Jenkins, the Registrar of Births, as part of the judicial review hearing which took place in March at the instigation of two transsexual women wishing their birth certificates to be altered. The author, Dr Russell Reid, a specialist in the treatment of gender identity problems, concludes the submission with the following statement :
It is clear from this that the current legal status of people treated for transsexualism works directly against their health, as defined by the WHO, and against the best efforts of medicine to maintain their healthy status. It is impossible not to conclude that, for the individual, their legal circumstances constitute a fundamental violation of their right to human dignity.
A Sex Difference in the Brain
(external link)
Transgendered people should not have to rely on the scientific evidence of a microscopic part of their brains in order to lay claim to the same common rights as others. We exist in sufficient numbers, all recounting similar histories, and it shouldn’t be necessary to establish why we exist in order to accept the fact that we do. Nevertheless, this piece of research, published in the Autumn of 1996 has probably done more than any other medical contribution to turn the tide of opinion and create an acceptance of transsexual peoples’ imperatives.
Transsexualism : The medical viewpoint
This important work, underwritten by the most prominent names in the field of gender identity research and treatment, summarises the current definitive medical view of Gender Identity Disorder and was first published in January 1995. This updated edition (January 1996), incorporates new evidence published in Nature Magazine in the autumn of 1995.
Speech by Professor Louis Gooren
This speech, delivered by one of the world’s foremost experts in the study of gender identity disorders, was delivered in April 1993, at the close of the Council of Europe’s 23rd Law Colloquy : Transsexualism, medicine and law. It outlines the most up-to-date medical view of the syndrome’s aetiology and puts it into context with other medical and social phenomena.
True Selves is an excellent book to add to your reading list if you’re setting out to learn about transgendered people and how to help them. This review explains why.
Suffolk Health Authority Recommends
In recent years there has been a disturbing tendency within UK National Health Service regions to dismiss transsexual treatment, out of hand, as non-essential and a waste of resources. This report, recently obtained by us, shows that some health authorities are capable of adopting a more ethical and open-minded approach. It’s not an ideal document. It contains plenty that would insult and annoy intelligent transsexual people, and some experts would raise eyebrows in places too. Nevertheless, the important thing is that the authority examined the medical literature and made a responsible judgement in favour of treatment on the basis of that research. On that basis the authors are to be commended, and we hope that by publishing the document in this medium the idea might catch on.
A Press for Change activist provides a detailed account of her long struggle to have necessary medical treatment provided on the NHS.
The Harry Benjamin Standards of Care (current version)
Revised Standards of Care - 1998 edition
The Harry Benjamin Standards of Care have been evolving for over fifteen years but are, without question, the basic reference point for all practitioners dealing with Gender Identity cases, worldwide. The SOC has been the target of growing criticism over recent years, and the fact that the latest attempt to revise them is now took nine drafts before finaliastion gives some indication as to the vigour with which the provisions are now debated. One major difference between the 1998 version and the 1990 edition will be the very close involvement of transgendered people themselves, however.
Should Transsexuals be Sterilised?
Stephen Whittle looks at sterilisation requirements and legal status recognition for transsexual people.
In Ancient Greece, she’d have been a god. In Wales, they
spit on her
True hermaphroditism is exceptionally rare, but it’s not hard to recognise. But that doesn’t mean that intersexed people can rely on acceptance, either from the medical profession or from the public. Linda Roberts’s story is not a happy one.