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Original poster

Vivek Ramaswamy calls 'transgenderism' a 'mental health disorder'

32 replies

RoyalCorgi · 28/09/2023 10:07

This is a particularly badly written article, even by Mail Online standards, but the story itself is interesting. Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping to gain the Republican presidential nomination - he doesn't realistically stand a chance, but he is now very high profile and getting a lot of publicity for his views.

The reason I think this is interesting is because he is being so outspoken - he's not pussyfooting around the issue. His comments about transgenderism being a mental health disorder are the sort of that Glinner might come out with, but as a whole in the UK, most of the well-known gender critical voices are much more circumspect. The debate is clearly far more polarised in the US. And I guess Ramaswamy must think he has nothing to lose by expressing his views so frankly.

[[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12569599/Vivek-Ramaswamy-calls-transgenderism-mental-health-disorder.html

Vivek Ramaswamy calls 'transgenderism' a 'mental health disorder'

Flanked by rivals such as Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, and Chris Christie, the 38-year-old businessman from Ohio instead insisted 'parents have a right to know' about their kids' prospective transitions.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12569599/Vivek-Ramaswamy-calls-transgenderism-mental-health-disorder.html

OP posts:
NotBadConsidering · 28/09/2023 11:07

It’s either a mental health condition based around an easily externally observable false perception of somebody’s self - “that person believes them to be of the opposite sex which is objectively not true”.

Or

There is such a thing as a gendered soul and/or a gendered brain that is trapped/born in the wrong body.

Original poster
RoyalCorgi · 28/09/2023 11:00

For me, what's interesting is that this is being said aloud. A lot of the time people on the gender-critical side of the debate tend to qualify their remarks with "of course trans people are vulnerable", "of course we respect trans people's identities" etc. Very few are willing to be that blunt about the harm being done.

So I now wonder whether his openness will encourage other people to be more open - or whether it will further polarise debate, causing proponents of gender ideology to double down.

OP posts:
DiabolicalFinial · 28/09/2023 10:46

Before GI theory infiltrated and captured politics and society in general, the medical and scientific communities also defined it as a mental health disorder. The reasoning made scientific, medical and common sense.

Rudderneck · 28/09/2023 10:43

He's been doing the rounds of all the talk shows in the US. He doesn't hold back from saying what he means in general.

He seems to appeal to a lot of people, and has a rather interesting background, he's been hugely successful in business, he's an ethical vegetarian, religiously observant, very positive towards Christianity, used to perform as a rap artist, among other things. I've seen a lot of young youtobers really positively disposed towards him.

OldCrone · 28/09/2023 10:40

It is absolutely baffling that medical intervention can be considered the solution for a problem no one is willing to classify and measure.

Not only that, but medical intervention is seen as an essential "treatment" for something which is not a medical condition. It's insane.

PaperWalkAndTalk · 28/09/2023 10:38

As time goes on scientific and psychological explanations seem to disappear for some ambiguous (quasi-religious) theory of "gender identity". Any scientific research into the subject is now blocked.

The work of Dr Ray Blanchard is still the best. But again activists don't want that work known about.

It is absolutely baffling that medical intervention can be considered the solution for a problem no one is willing to classify and measure.

ArabellaScott · 28/09/2023 10:28

It is a mere ten years since this was generally accepted view of the medical establishment.

'...1980 with the publication of DSM–III that the diagnosis “transsexualism” first appeared. In 1990, the World Health Organization followed suit and included this diagnosis in ICD-10. With the release of DSM–IV in 1994, “transsexualism” was replaced with “gender identity disorder in adults and adolescence” in an effort to reduce stigma. However, controversy continued with advocates and some psychiatrists pointing to ways in which this diagnostic category pathologized identity rather than a true disorder.With the publication of DSM–5 in 2013, “gender identity disorder” was eliminated and replaced with “gender dysphoria.”'

https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis