Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III-5:
Gender variance is not a psychiatric disease; it is a human variation that in some cases requires medical attention. For the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, because there is no other medical diagnosis available for transgender people to seek reimbursement of medical expenses under, we recommended that some version of gender dysphoria appear in DSM-5 as a stop-gap measure. There is a continuing need for the medical and insurance industries to update their procedures for reimbursement so that gender dysphoria can be removed entirely in the future. Yet, we must understand that as long as transgender identities are understood through a “disease” framework, transgender people will suffer from unnecessary abuse and discrimination from both inside and outside the medical profession. As long as gender variance is characterized by the medical field as a mental condition, transgender people will find their identities invalidated by claims that they are “mentally ill,” and therefore not able to speak objectively about their own identities and lived experiences. This has even been used to justify discrimination against transgender people, such as in child custody cases, discrimination in hiring/workplace practices, or justifying them to be mentally unfit to serve in the military. Even more alarming is the high rate of children—and adults— who will continue to be forcibly subjected to abusive “reparative” therapies designed to “cure” them of gender variance. While the “Gender Identity Disorder” framework of the DSM-IV did have some usefulness for accessing care, there is significant evidence that it has been gravely abused since its creation as a way to subject gender-variant children and adults to damaging “reparative” treatments against their will. (2020)*
This is the closing week of the Diamond Stingily, Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), Bri Williams group show in New York. See link below for details.
DIAMOND STINGILY, PUPPIES PUPPIES (JADE KURIKI OLIVO), BRI WILLIAMS
Through March 27.
Queer Thoughts
373 Broadway, #C9, New York City.
From top: Bri Williams, Prometheus, 2021, ceramic, wax, bra; Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), Eve’s/Adam’s Apple (Adam’s Apple is a lump of cartilage that sticks out from the throat) (symbol of banishment) (clocked by my large Eve’s/Adam’s Apple) (Eve’s Apple) (Bitten), 2020, apple; Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), How many ribs does it take to make a trans Eve? How many ribs does it take to make a trans womxn? How many ribs does it take to make a trans person?, 2020, real human ribs; Diamond Stingily, Orgasms Happened Here, 2021, closet doors, shelf, hardware, towels; Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), *see opening paragraph; Puppies Puppies (Jade Kuriki Olivo), download takeaway PDF; Bri Williams, The Roses That Grew From Concrete, 2021, soap, resin, roses. Images courtesy and © the artists and Queer Thoughts.
