NEWSROOM UPDATE

4 August 2020

Dear WPATH Members:

Several items have come to our attention in the WPATH office that we thought our members would appreciate knowing about (in case you didn’t see them elsewhere) so we are taking this opportunity to share them with you. 

The WPATH Board recently authorized two public policy statements, one directed toward legislators in Russia where a few lawmakers have proposed to reverse identity document changes for Russian-born citizens who have previously transitioned, to deny marriage any transgender person (as well as same-sex marriage), and to ban from fostering or adopting children people who have “entered into homosexual marriage (partnership) abroad an those who have not entered into any marriage but are citizens of states which recognize such marriages.” All this in the interest of preserving the “institution of the traditional family and traditional family values.” WPATH argues against these punitive and harmful statutory changes. You can see the full letter by clicking here.

The second statement authorized by the Board is from the Ethics Committee in opposition to “Legislation that Endangers Health.” This statement discusses the recent US HHS regulatory changes to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, as well as highlighting legislative changes in Hungary, Brazil, and Russia that are dangerous for trans people. See the full version of this letter here.

The American Psychological Association (Division 44) has just issued an announcement declaring a 60-day comment period—open to both APA members and the general public—to inform a task force which will be revising the Association’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People. The current guidelines, adopted August 2015, expire in August 2022. The deadline for submitting comments is Midnight Eastern Time on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The Guideline document is 111 pages long, with 63 pages devoted to the guidelines, 47 pages of references, and 11 pages of Appendix material, 9 of which are definitions of terms.

You can download the current guidelines and make your comments here. Be sure to read the instructions carefully.

Thanks to Dr. Loren Schechter, WPATH Board Member, for letting us know about the newly released guidelines regarding cervical cancer screening from the American Cancer Society. They have advanced their language, now using the term "individuals with a cervix." Dr. Marci Bowers, WPATH Board Member, noted that “This is a positive development… this broadening and simplification of the recommendation is more inclusive, particularly for transmasculine individuals who so often are left out of the cancer screening conversation amongst gyn providers.”

You can find the new guidelines here.

Speaking of Dr. Bowers, a recent article in the San Mateo Daily Journal notes that she has accomplished over 2000 deliveries and has also performed 2000 vaginoplasties. See the article here.

While Dr. Bowers did not operate in this instance, Idaho Department of Correction inmate Adree Edmo has become the second prisoner in the United States to receive genital reconstruction while incarcerated. Two of our members and WPATH Board Members, served as experts in the case: Dr. Randi Ettner, and Dr. Lin Fraser, both in support of this trans woman’s request for gender affirming care. Information about this victory is here.

Meanwhile, our Board Member in Venezuela, Dr. Tamara Adrian, JD, has informed us that in Argentina legislators were discussing a bill that uses the language “pregnant person” to be inclusive of trans men, but dropped the bill due to vehement opposition from “trans-exclusionary radical feminists” (terf), citing arguments in the vein of J.K Rowling’s resistance to trans women taking over spaces traditionally reserved for cisgender women, rendering those women subject to (anticipated) violence. Could those pregnant trans men be up to no good? Are they using their pregnancies to invade women’s spaces and threaten them with violence? These are dangerous times! A similar bill is under discussion in Spain, and receiving the same opposition.

And lastly, here’s an article from Forbes.com summarizing some of the latest hot issues for trans people, including a new film, the US HUD (housing) regulations that advise agents how to recognize trans women so they can deny them services, and recent transphobic criticism of Pennsylvania’s physician general, Dr. Rachel Levine, and her articulate and dignified response.

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