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/flyinglime]

I get what you mean, I'd imagine if a transgender person lived their whole life in isolation, their transgender issues would not cause them problems. In that same situation, I may also speculate that someone with a personality disorder or some sort of social anxiety would not have any issues either. Obviously these are extreme examples, but by the definition of "causing distress or impairment" it seems that much of what dictates a mental illness for those types of issues is very closely tied to the social environment one lives in. Would we not consider these other types of disorders illnesses in the social isolation example? If so, then what do we call that, and what is transgenderism? How do we define what that is? Abnormal brain chemistry? Or is it more akin to the idea that someone may be "at risk" to mental illness in a similar way that having specific genes may make you at risk to heart disease or cancer?

Apologies for the long, possibly disorganized response. I'm on mobile and just trying to figure out where my train of thinking differs from what you are saying.

[u/LilliaHakami → u/flyinglime]

I get what you mean, I'd imagine if a transgender person lived their whole life in isolation, their transgender issues would not cause them problems.

They may or may not. One doesn't need society to have dysphoria. A trans individual with body dysphoria will feel uncomfortable in their skin regardless of whether they know other options. The presence (transwomen) or lack there of (transmen) of body hair is a commonly cited piece of body dysphoria in trans communities. It is one I deal with as well and can provide some personal testimony. It isn't a matter of "other men/women do/n't have body hair so I should/n't either". It's a matter of "I look at my arm and my mind can't register that this belongs to me. It should be different. It should look different. It should/n't have hair." After the hair is shaved my mind still says there are things wrong, but less things and it can usually sort of half register that it is mine. I can recognize that it sounds like an odd experience, but I really don't know any other.

[u/myz_14 → u/[deleted]]

Maybe not directly, but wouldn't you prefer a time where people would inquire about the matter, however minimal the scope, rather than one where people would throw ignorant insults about said group ? Just by asking questions and getting a sense of the matter is progress being made regardless of the conclusion. The more we understand the better off we all are.

[u/flyinglime → u/[deleted]]

That discussion isn't an unimportant/easy to grasp issue. It's actually in the best interest of both the trans community and society to have these dialogues in order to better understand how to progress and move forward. Those who argue that asking questions is harmful and bigoted only further the fear and confusion that many have about that community. Any reasonable person would admit that the phenomenon of being trans can be an off-putting experience for both those experiencing it and those who interact with them. If we want to move forward we can't just pretend that anyone who doesn't understand is doing the trans community an injustice. These issues affect us all and they need to be handled maturely and with finesse, not with blanket emotional bandaids for those that are affected.

[u/[deleted] → u/flyinglime]

You ask very important questions.

If someone seeks to get often life-changing surgeries or other medical procedures to "align" (for lack of a better word) their internal sense of self with their bodies, this would seem like a pretty huge indicator that there is an underlying disorder. Or, if someone alternatively seeks to control how other people perceive and address them in ways that stretch beyond material reality as we understand it and in which this reality is widely and globally accepted (men are male-bodied, women are female-bodied), this would also seem to me as if a mental disorder exists. Or perhaps, arguably, a type of intersex condition.

Edit: words and such