APA Issues Official Positions Supporting Access to Care and the Rights of Transgender and Gender Variant Persons

At its July meeting, APA's Board of Trustees voted to endorse two proposed position statements in support of access to care and civil rights for transgender individuals. In doing so, APA joins other organizations, including the AMA and American Psychological Association, in endorsing strong policy statements deploring the discrimination experienced by gender-variant and transgender individuals and calling for laws to protect their civil rights.

Access to Care for Transgender and Gender Variant Individuals concerns access to medical care and its impact on the mental health of these individuals. It explains why it is crucial to remove barriers to care and to support public and private insurance coverage for gender-transition treatment.

Discrimination Against Transgender and Gender Variant Individuals concerns the pervasive discrimination transgender individuals face. It puts APA on record supporting laws that protect their civil rights and describes the mental health consequences of discrimination and lack of equal rights in areas such as health care, employment, housing, and licensing.

See also a recent report from the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

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