Calls to remove psychiatric ‘hoops’ for transgender people

Transgender rights activists are calling for gender dysphoria to no longer be classed as a mental condition.

Lexie Matheson is a transgender woman who has had to undergo a psychiatrist’s sanity assessment in order to start receiving hormone therapy.

Ms Matheson said this is only one of many barriers that could be removed by making sure gender identity is not something that can be formally diagnosed.

The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand defines gender dysphoria as a mental health problem related to not being recognised as the gender one identifies with.

Ms Matheson said she has had doctors quoting the American Psychological Association mental disorder manual to her, which once claimed being transgender is a result of a disorder.

The manual has since been updated to use the phrase ‘gender dysphoria’, but Ms Matheson said it is still not enough.

Ti Lamusse, of prisoner advocacy group No Pride in Prisons, said the issue is aggravated for transgender people in prisons, as it can be down to luck if they get adequate treatment.

“People can be denied treatment just because they have a bad doctor,” they said.

However, removing any possibility for a diagnosis could have a negative impact on some transgender people.

Prison chaplain Peter Lineham said a transgender woman he sees at his chaplaincy has good access to counselling services because of the classification.

Mr Lineham said the woman is in a part of the prison with a dedicated psychological unit, and has therefore been identified to receive mental health care by prison staff.

“Actually, what is quite interesting to me is that there’s reasonably good support that the prison gives her,” Mr Lineham said.

Mx Lamusse said this is a problem that prisons need to address, rather than a reason to shy away from changing the classification.

“The fact that someone has to be in a mental health facility in order to get adequate healthcare as a transgender person is really worrying to me because it demonstrates the lack of understanding,” Mx Lamusse said.

A Mental Health Foundation of NZ spokesperson said they did not have an expert available to speak about the issue sensitively.