HRC Blog

Those opposed to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have been working hard to push the lie that LGBT people -- and particularly transgender folks -- suffer from “mental illness” are are therefore unworthy of basic employment protections. In an incredibly offensive editorial last month, the Washington Times argued that "discrimination is necessary" or else children would be subjected to "weirdos." They also cite the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a basis for their argument. In response, the President of the APA wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Times to correct the record and rebut their distortion of the DSM. The paper refused to publish the letter but the APA has given us permission to print it here:

Like the nation's top private companies, colleges and universities are removing discriminatory transgender exclusions from their health insurance plans in order to provide more inclusive insurance for students and staff. On many campuses today, much of the activism is centered on transgender and genderqueer issues, such as adding gender identity to the school’s non-discrimination policy and implementing gender-neutral housing and locker room facilities. A newer area of focus is ensuring that health insurance policies provide transgender-inclusive coverage.

Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth is working on “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves,” a resource guide for transgender and other gender-variant people. Last week, she took questions at the New York Times' City Room blog about transgender issues, and got one in particular about transgender-inclusive health insurance: