Arguably, the trans movement really took hold when organizations like The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) began a de-psychopathologization campaign back in 2010. This campaign was not based on “science,” but was politically motivated, and resulted in the removal of mental health protections and enabled the medical scandal we see today, wherein minors are being sterilized and mutilated on the basis they are “trans.
Genspect argues that this campaign “systematically dismantled psychiatric safeguards by declaring transgender identity innate and healthy, demoting mental health professionals to facilitators in Standards of Care 7, replacing Gender Identity Disorder with Gender Dysphoria in the DSM-5 and with Gender Incongruence in the ICD-11, redefining medical transition as medically necessary, and removing age barriers in Standards of Care 8.”
In response, Genspect launched a “re-psychopathologization” campaign a few months ago, calling for “recognition of transgender identification and the drive for medical transition as a pathological condition characterized by an Extreme Overvalued Belief [a rigid, non-delusional conviction, shared and reinforced within a culture or subculture, defended with passion, and experienced by the individual as entirely rational.]”
Mia Hughes announced the campaign at this year’s Genspect conference in Albuquerque. I spoke with her about why “re-psychopathologization” is key to ending the scandal that is the modern trans movement, the backlash she received in response to the campaign, and why suing organizations like WPATH could help stop this medical malpractice.
Mia Hughes is a writer and researcher on paediatric gender medicine, social contagion, and the intersection of trans and women’s rights. She authored The WPATH Files and co-hosts Beyond Gender with Stella O’Malley and Dr Bret Alderman.
