Transgender Identity Issues in Psychology
APA Resources on Transgender People and Issues
Answers to your Questions About Transgender People, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression is an introductory brochure developed for a general audience to help with most frequently asked questions about this topic. (Previously titled Answers to Your Questions About Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity.)
Report by the Task Force on Gender Identity and Gender Variance (PDF, 1MB)
The six-member task force spent more than two years reviewing the scientific literature, as well as APA policies regarding transgender issues. It was also charged with developing recommendations for education, professional training and further research into transgenderism, and proposing how APA can best meet the needs of psychologists and students who identify as transgender or gender-variant.
APA Resolution Supporting Full Equality for Transgender and Gender-Variant People
The Resolution on Transgender, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression Non-Discrimination calls on APA to:
Support legal and social recognition of transgender individuals consistent with their gender identity and expression
Support the provision of adequate and medically necessary treatment for transgender and gender-variant people
Recognize the benefit and necessity of gender transition treatments for appropriately evaluated individuals
Call on public and private insurers to cover these treatments
Task Force on Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Clients
Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, Feb. 3, 2011
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that transgender and gender non-conforming people face discrimination in every area of life, including:
Education
Employment
Family life
Public accommodations
Housing
Health
Police and jails
ID documents
The National Transgender Discrimination Survey was conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Good Policies and Practices
- 7th Version of Standards of Care for the Health of Transexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People (PDF, 1.7MB).
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Guidance Regarding the Employment of Transgender Individuals in the Federal Workplace Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration DIRECTIVE 2011-024
Providing Health Care for Transgender and Intersex Veterans
June 9, 2011
This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive establishes policy regarding the respectful delivery of health care to transgender and intersex Veterans who are enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system or are otherwise eligible for VA care.The World Professional Association for Transgender Health Issues Identity Recognition Statement, June 16, 2010
Statement: No person should have to undergo surgery or accept sterilization as a condition of identity recognition. If a sex marker is required on an identity document, that marker could recognize the person's lived gender, regardless of reproductive capacity. The WPATH Board of Directors urges governments and other authoritative bodies to move to eliminate requirements for identity recognition that require surgical procedures.
For more information and press release concerning the statement, visit WPATH.New Policy on Gender Change in Passports Announced by the U.S. Department of State, June 9, 2010
The U.S. Department of State used the occasion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month to announce its new policy guidelines regarding gender change in passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad.
Beginning June 10, when a passport applicant presents a certification from an attending medical physician that the applicant has undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition, the passport will reflect the new gender. The guidelines include detailed information about what information the certification must include. It is also possible to obtain a limited-validity passport if the physician’s statement shows the applicant is in the process of gender transition. No additional medical records are required. Sexual reassignment surgery is no longer a prerequisite for passport issuance. A Consular Report of Birth Abroad can also be amended with the new gender.
Research
- Gender Variant Children and Transgender Adolescents, a special issue of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America; October 2011, Volume 20, Issue 4.
