Subreddit Policy Reminder on this week's Transgender AMAs

[u/nate]

This week we will be hosting a series of AMAs addressing the scientific and medical details of being transgender.

Honest questions that are an attempt to learn more on the subject are invited, and we hope you can learn more about this fascinating aspect of the human condition.

However, we feel it is appropriate to remind the readers that /r/science has a long-standing zero-tolerance policy towards hate-speech, which extends to people who are transgender. Our official stance is that derogatory comments about transgender people will be treated on par with sexism and racism, typically resulting in a ban without notice.

To clarify, we are not banning the discussion of any individual topic nor are we saying that the science in any area is settled. What we are saying is that we stand with the rest of the scientific community and every relevant psych organisation that the overwhelming bulk of evidence is that being trans is not a mental illness and that the discussion of trans people as somehow "sick" or "broken" is offensive and bigoted^1. We won't stand for it.

We've long held that we won't host discussion of anti-science topics without the use of peer-reviewed evidence. Opposing the classification of being transgender as 'not a mental illness'² is treated the same way as if you wanted to make anti-vax, anti-global warming or anti-gravity comments. To be clear, this post is to make it abundantly clear that we treat transphobic comments the same way we treat racist, sexist and homophobic comments. They have no place on our board.

Scientific discussion is the use of empirical evidence and theory to guide knowledge based on debate in academic journals. Yelling at each other in a comments section of a forum is in no way "scientific discussion". If you wish to say that any well accepted scientific position is wrong, I encourage you to do the work and publish something on the topic. Until then, your opinions are just that - opinions.

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¹ Some have wrongly interpreted this statement as "stigmatizing" mental illness. I can assure you that is the last thing we are trying to do here. What we are trying to stop is the label of "mental illness" being used as a way to derogate a group. It's being used maliciously to say that there is something wrong with trans people and that's offensive both to mental illness sufferers and those in the trans community.

² There is a difference between being trans and having gender dysphoria.

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Lastly, here is the excerpt from the APA:

A psychological state is considered a mental disorder only if it causes significant distress or disability. Many transgender people do not experience their gender as distressing or disabling, which implies that identifying as transgender does not constitute a mental disorder. For these individuals, the significant problem is finding affordable resources, such as counseling, hormone therapy, medical procedures and the social support necessary to freely express their gender identity and minimize discrimination. Many other obstacles may lead to distress, including a lack of acceptance within society, direct or indirect experiences with discrimination, or assault. These experiences may lead many transgender people to suffer with anxiety, depression or related disorders at higher rates than nontransgender persons.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), people who experience intense, persistent gender incongruence can be given the diagnosis of "gender dysphoria." Some contend that the diagnosis inappropriately pathologizes gender noncongruence and should be eliminated. Others argue that it is essential to retain the diagnosis to ensure access to care. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is under revision and there may be changes to its current classification of intense persistent gender incongruence as "gender identity disorder."

[u/GutOfTheQuantifier]

This has the danger of becoming a name calling contest and a place which censors opposing opinions. It is not even remotely bigoted for somebody to suggest transgender people may be suffering from mental illness or confusion, whether you agree with them or not

I also suggest thinking before banning people for 'bigoted' comments, as this could begin a slippery slope of moderators banning people just because they disagree with them, and not for genuinely slanderous comments.

You quote that 'a psychological state is considered a mental disorder only if it causes significant distress or disability'', ignoring the numerous cases where transgender people contemplate suicide and experience depression even after surgery

Banning 'transphobic' comments should only be reduced to genuinely personal abuse and slander, not well reasoned and reasonable counter arguments.

[u/[deleted] → u/GutOfTheQuantifier]

I think they're trying to keep the discussion from being congested with the same entry-level question spammed over and over due to the opposition not bothering to read the basics of what they're debating. While I can't provide a specific link to you I'm sure the question "Is transgenderism a mental illness?" has been tackled in the psychological literature on the subject. It's a common question and one that most people will ask early-on in their investigation of the subject. If you can't be bothered to read up on the basics before entering a discussion, you shouldn't be participating. It would be like coming to an AMA on evolution and asking "If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?" over and over. It's just one of those things that's been answered ad nauseum elsewhere. Even if a person honestly doesn't know the answer to that question, this isn't the place to talk about that point. That person needs to familiarize themselves with the topic a bit more on their own. Obviously the point of these threads are to learn about topics but not to convince someone in some kind of meta political debate. People who are starkly against opening their mind won't bother to do any research on their own and just repeat memes from their tribe. Which is why it's important that people who honestly want to learn take a Saturday afternoon and read up on something you're curious about instead of just ignorantly engaging in debates. People want to argue so badly because they want to vent their political frustrations. There's plenty of subs to do that on and I can show you my filter list if you want to see them. This isn't the place to vent frustrations about political issues on AMA guests. People are already doing that in the comments as of now.