I have been reading this blog posting by Anne Tamar-Mattis of Advocates for informed choice about why inclusion of Intersex people into DSM 5 is very bad and very dangerous for intersex people. It is very dangerous for intersex people because it would make access to health care for intersex people very hard and it would make it very easy to discriminate intersex people. Anne Tamar-Mattis wrote this blog post in the Hastings about the dangers of intersex inclusion into DSM 5. If any of you don’t know what DSM 5 is, DSM is The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s a manual that all health care providers use to treat and diagnose mental health disorders. In The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Transsexualism and transgender is listed in the DSM Manual as a mental disorder as GID, Gender Identity disorder.
Now, their is word that with the new DSM 5 manual set to come out, their is some discussions of including intersex people in the DSM 5 manual. My opinion on that is that it is very wrong to include intersex/DSD people in the DSM 5 and it makes it very dangerous for intersex people and it would make it very easy for intersex people to be discriminated against. Now Anne Tamar-Mattis made some good points as to why it is very dangerous for intersex people to be included in the DSM 5 manual and they are;
- It will make it harder to change gender identity on official documents. So far, Advocates for Informed Choice has been able to argue that barriers that make it harder for transgender people to change their identity documents shouldn’t apply to intersex people because they don’t have a gender identity disorder. So, for example, where a transgender person might have to have genital surgery in order to change identity documents, we have successfully argued that the requirement shouldn’t apply to a person with a DSD.
- It will make discrimination easier. In most states, where it is legal to discriminate against transgender people, discrimination against intersex people may still be prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the ADA specifically excludes people with gender identity disorder from its protection.
- It will decrease access to health care. Many health insurance policies specifically exclude gender assignment treatment for gender identity disorder. People with DSD have successfully argued that the exclusion shouldn’t apply to them, since by definition they don’t have a gender identity disorder.
I totally agree with Anne Tamar-Mattis, the reasons why Intersex should be excluded from the DSM 5. Mainly because Intersex people don’t have any gender identity disorder. Being born Intersex is not a psychiatric or mental health issue. Intersex is a medical condition and should largely stay within the Endocrinology community. Intersex people have needs and issues that go way beyond the scope of psychology. It would do more harm than good to intersex people and it would even make clinicians view intersex people with DSD as if they have some type of gender identity issue. It would force intersex people to follow the Transgender standards of care when in reality, Intersex people don’t need to follow the Transgender standard of care. If this new DSM 5 rolls out and if it includes intersex people, it would create more damage to intersex people. It would physically and mentally harm intersex people. It would do more damage than what is already been done by the medical community.
I personally believe that intersex people should stay out of the DSM 5 and intersex people should not be included in the DSM 5 manual. It is very dangerous to included intersex people in the DSM 5 manual and it would make it very easily for intersex people to be discriminated against. Even though Intersex people are protected under the Americans with Disability act.
Read blog; http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=5406
