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Original poster

Should gender dysphoria/transgenderism be considered a disability?

33 replies

LittleMissViper · 25/03/2022 13:55

It's something that I've been wondering for a while. I'm not an expert in the field, nor have I had a lot of interactions with a wide number of affected individuals. I would be genuinely interested to hear other peoples experiences and thoughts.

Obviously the severity varies, but the affected individuals I know have described the severity of their gender dysphoria and the distress it causes them. They often speak about how they cannot live without going through a transition.

The transition often, but not always, leads to the individual beginning regulated medication that would need to be taken for the rest of their life. It also sometimes involves major surgical procedures being performed.

Considering this, should being under medical care for a chronic, lifelong condition be classified as having a disability?

Would affected people be able to claim financial support for the disability?

Would affected athletes then participate in disabled sport, after assessment using the standard classification systems?

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MiladyBerserko · 26/03/2022 09:46

You dont need to have dysphoria to be trans. This is what Self ID is.

Stonewall include part time cross dressers in their definition of trans. Are they to be considered disabled too, but just on the days they wear a dress?

CatSpeakForDummies · 26/03/2022 09:42

To be fair to the SNP, the language of "identifying" as disabled came before it was taken up by trans people. It was intended to allow people who might classify as disabled to essentially opt out, that they are best placed to know whether they are disabled or not. Telling someone who cannot hear that they are disabled, when they consider it only a difference, is not a great approach.

Nobody in disability services imagined people using (appropriating?) this language to identify into disadvantaged groups to which they didn't belong - it started as an opt out.

ashitghost · 26/03/2022 01:27

It’s no more or less “disabling” than I suspect what many women feel. We are always been told our bodies are wrong. Anguish isn’t rare at all.

Thewindwhispers · 25/03/2022 22:30

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RedWhiteOrBlue · 25/03/2022 22:16

@LittleMissViper

It seems likely then that I have been lead down the garden path by the people I am aware of with gender dysphoria, who have implied it to be significantly more disabling than perhaps it truly is.

I hasten to add that none of them, to my knowledge, have described gender dysphoria as a disability. However, how it is described as affecting them made me wonder if it should be.

Having not experienced gender dysphoria myself, it is hard to judge.

Oh bless you. Your heart is in the right place. You just need to look into this matter more thoroughly. It is not quite so cut and dried as some would like to think.
SingingSands · 25/03/2022 22:04

That could be their new strapline Grin

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 25/03/2022 21:47

My take on the SNP is "collection of idiots and egos with occasional flashes of brilliance", @SingingSands

SingingSands · 25/03/2022 21:42

@vivariumvivariumsvivaria Sad I honestly don't know what to think of the SNP.

internetpersonme · 25/03/2022 21:36

No

Original poster
LittleMissViper · 25/03/2022 21:36

It seems likely then that I have been lead down the garden path by the people I am aware of with gender dysphoria, who have implied it to be significantly more disabling than perhaps it truly is.

I hasten to add that none of them, to my knowledge, have described gender dysphoria as a disability. However, how it is described as affecting them made me wonder if it should be.

Having not experienced gender dysphoria myself, it is hard to judge.

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RedWhiteOrBlue · 25/03/2022 20:56

@Voice0fReason

The definition of disability "You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. ‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection."

So no, gender dysphoria absolutely does not meet this definition because it really doesn't affect your ability to do normal daily activities.

Being disabled isn't something that you can identify in or out of.

Hear hear!
Voice0fReason · 25/03/2022 20:55

The definition of disability
"You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, eg it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed
‘long-term’ means 12 months or more, eg a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection."

So no, gender dysphoria absolutely does not meet this definition because it really doesn't affect your ability to do normal daily activities.

Being disabled isn't something that you can identify in or out of.

MsFogi · 25/03/2022 19:48

No in the same way as anorexia is not going to gain someone entry into the disabled loos, the paralympics etc. It is a mental health condition and it is already ridiculous that men have been allowed into wormen's sport, onto women's wards in hospital, into women's prisons etc etc

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 25/03/2022 19:43

Not so sure about that, @SingingSands. The SNP were inviting candidates who "identified as disabled".

Certainly, the conditions mentioned in the article can be very disabling and wreak havoc in a person's life, but, I'm not convinced that the individuals sharing their personal information are disabled by them.

I totally agree, if your marginalisation ends when you change your clothes, cut your hair or broaden your horizons, then you're not disabled.

wingsoverscotland.com/the-death-wish/

SingingSands · 25/03/2022 19:19

No, genuinely disabled people are not able to identify out of their conditions.

Being disabled is not a lifestyle choice.

CrowUpNorth · 25/03/2022 19:06

Paralympics is based on the impact of specific impairments and what groupings are needed for a 'fair contest. As far as I remember there is only one event not based on physical criteria.

Possibly could be a disability in terms of discrimination, especially as commonly paired with depression or anxiety disorder which definitely can be, but its hard to see many cases where it wouldnt be simpler to push on discrim re sex reassignment the way it is currently interpreted.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 25/03/2022 18:43

Yes, but, transgenderism is also not a mental health disorder.

According to the WHO and Theresa May, at least.

So, no, they should crack on, get to work, find a good hobby, do something useful like the rest of us.

It's not special, being trans. Everyone is special.

SevenWaystoLeave · 25/03/2022 18:31

Gender dysphoria is a medical condition with diagnostic criteria. That doesn't make it a disability, and I'm unclear on the reason for you asking the question. Do you think it is/should be a disability? Do you think trans people argue that GD is a disability or want it to be recognised as such? (because they don't). This just seems like a weird hypothetical with no purpose

EmpressCixi · 25/03/2022 18:03

No no no no and no.
It’s not a disability. You can be distressed and perfectly able.

TheCurrywurstPrion · 25/03/2022 17:59

Being psychologically unable to use the toilets of your sex might be considered a disability. I read on here a long time ago, that this might have been a pathway those with severe gender dysphoria might have gone down, in order that they could use mixed sex disabled facilities, so clearly this is not an entirely unconsidered question.

It’s not a physical disability though.

Toomanyradishes · 25/03/2022 17:52

Even if it is a genuine medical condition (as I understand there is a medocal condition it falls under) I still find the notion that that would allow them to compete in the paralymics, for example, wierd.

A. Because there is a difference between a medical condition and a disability. Pcos for example is a medical condition not a disability.

B. Because not all disabilities mean that you would be in the paralympics. You refer to neurodiversity as a disability, but having autism wouldnt automatically qualify you to compete in a team for people with disabilities.

To enter the paralymics with an intellectual disability you would need an IQ of under 75, impaired functioning, and for the disability to have occured before you were 18.

Even with physical disabilities you need to be deemed sufficiently disabled in order to compete.

I just fail to see where a trans person would fit into these categories.

Original poster
LittleMissViper · 25/03/2022 17:37

I wonder if my confusion around this issue could be that gender dysphoria is not what I think it is? Is it not a genuine medical condition that can be diagnosed?

When explaining, please do assume I'm an idiot who knows nothing and have been living in a box my entire life. It often feels like it, with the minefield that is transgenderism!

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TheBeardedVulture · 25/03/2022 17:30

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Wowwwww · 25/03/2022 17:26

No

Original poster
LittleMissViper · 25/03/2022 17:22

Fair enough, I can understand a lot of those arguments, and I appreciate you taking the time to explain them to me.

Just to clarify that I don't believe that having a disability means that someone is automatically unable to work. In some cases that might be true, but not in others.

Also, to clarify that I am referring to individuals who receive a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and transitions under the care of doctors. I can fully understand that it is distasteful to suggest that someone who self-identifies as trans could be disabled.

Lastly, I don't mean to imply that any lifestyles, medication or surgeries are the disability, and apologies if that's how my thoughts have come across. Rather, I wondered whether the gender dysphoria itself could be considered a disability. Similar (but not the same) to how some forms of neurodivergence are disabilities.

I am not a doctor, but I would think lifestyle changes, medication and/or surgery is part of managing the issue.

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