NHS Trust transgender policy

[ApresMoiLaDeluge]

My trust has invited consultation on its new transgender policy. In the definitions at the start of the document, it defines intersex as:
‘ individuals whose anatomy and physiology differs from contemporary cultural stereotypes of what constitute typical male or female.’

I am in despair at how much they are tying themselves in knots to avoid reference to biological sex! This definition doesn’t bear any relation to what is on the main NHS website about disorders of sexual development. Does anyone recognise this definition? I would like to respond to the consultation though I am a little wary about being labelled as some kind of transphobe if I raise this point…

It's the definition given here:

warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/academy/activities/learningcircles/transqueerpedagogies/lgbtquaterminology/

Not an evidence or science based or even respectful definition for people living with VSDs.

And, I will not discuss VSDs beyond this. THere are so many threads in which people living with VSDs ask not to be weaponised, used as a rhetorical or point scoring mechanism.

defines intersex as:
‘ individuals whose anatomy and physiology differs from contemporary cultural stereotypes of what constitute typical male or female.’

Good grief. Intersex is NOT different from stereotypes!

Do you have a copy of 'Trans' by Helen Joyce? Or 'Material Girls' by Kathleen Stock? IIRC both set out what is and isn't intersex.

Maybe use that in your response and also alert your MP if you think they would be helpful and amenable to the issues. Issues include:

• clear language which enables patient safety
• medical clarity enabling good care for patients
• impartial public services

And agree with @EmbarrassingHadrosaurus that this policy shouldn't be co-opting intersex. That would be one of my points in response.

Thank you for your considered responses.

@EmbarrassingHadrosaurus I hope I haven’t caused offence with my terminology, and I am by no means qualified to discuss VSDs; the definition just jumped out at me as an example of how hormones, genitals and biology seem to be taboo terms in this context.

Clearly they need acquainting with an actual definition of DSDs quite urgently, which is concerning for an NHS Trust.

If the refusal to mention biological sex is a constant, you could legitimately raise a concern that while obviously everyone will have an awareness of contemporary British culture, they may not identify with that culture & a formal Trust policy that engages in a form of cultural imperialism would be best avoided.

Even if the Trust is in an area where the [patient] population is overwhelmingly White British, the lens of “contemporary culture” does not allow for nuance of class - and, crucially for an NHS Trust, it fails the elderly population. In a more diverse area, you are likely to run into hugely complex cultural layerings.

Essentially, you can’t say that there’s agreement on what constitutes gendered behaviour in the UK unless you set out which sets of gender stereotypes your organisation considers valid. Which surely an NHS Trust shouldn’t be doing, for multiple reasons?

(Hopefully someone capable of coherency will come & make the above into something within waving distance of sense &/or reason. After what it took to write I’m not deleting though…)

I wonder if it might be worth looking for an intersex/DSD/VSD advocacy organisation to point the trust towards? I would probably say that their definition is so crass and inaccurate as to be offensive.

www.dsdfamilies.org/faq

Christ, by their definition I'm probably intersex because my anatomy and physiology differs from that of a Barbie Doll...

This is awful and I think likely to be offensive to those who have VSD and their families. I think you can quite rightly point this out. And I agree with @NitroNine, “contemporary cultural stereotypes”, whose culture?