One of America's most influential mental health bodies, the American Psychological Association, is moving forward with their landmark policy that approves of gender-affirming care while also denouncing state bans on the treatment.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The American Psychological Association released a statement on Thursday to announce its watershed policy of affirming evidence-based care for transgender, gender diverse, nonbinary children, adolescents and adults. The APA noted that recent legislative attempts to obstruct access to psychological and medical interventions for such individuals puts them at risk of depression, anxiety and other negative mental health outcomes.
The APA's president Cynthia de las Fuentes, PhD, said this about her own organization's landmark policy:
"It sends a clear message that state bans on gender-affirming care disregard the comprehensive body of medical and psychological research supporting the positive impact of such treatments in alleviating psychological distress and improving overall well-being for transgender, gender diverse and nonbinary individuals throughout their lives."
Gender-affirming care helps people transition from their birth gender to the one they want to be identified by. At least 19 states have legislation restricting gender-affirming care, according to a CNN report.
The APA's new policy clashes with not only the states with restrictions but also with orthodox Christian views. Orthodox Christians would rather the APA helped individuals to overcome "gender confusion." An often cited verse from the Holy Bible is this:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:27, KJV)
Pastor Gino Jennings of Philadelphia, when asked "What is a woman?" replied: "Your mama!"
In the last few years, the APA has been partnering with Christians and other faiths to reduce the stigma and address mental health issues in religious communities.
“There’s more movement happening in this area in the last four or five years than I’ve seen in the last 20,” says Shannon Royce, director of the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Since the early 1970s the American mental health care industry has faithfully walked back its then century-old diagnosis that homosexuality is a mental disorder.
At the 1972 American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting a masked man identifying himself as “Dr. H. Anonymous” began his speech with this statement: “I am a homosexual. I am a psychiatrist."
He was later revealed to be Dr. John Fryer who helped to lead the campaign for the APA to delete homosexuality from the industry standard Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
In 1973, the APA relented and issued a resolution stating that homosexuality is neither a mental illness nor a sickness and removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses described in the influential reference manual.
"We will no longer insist on a label of sickness for individuals who insist that they are well and demonstrate no generalized impairment in social effectiveness," the 1973 resolution stated.
“For a mental or psychiatric condition to be considered a psychiatric disorder, it must either regularly cause subjective distress, or regularly be associated with some generalized impairment in social effectiveness or functioning. With the exception of homosexuality…all of the other mental disorders in DSM-II fulfill either of these two criteria,” the resolution declared.
The proclamation also promised support for civil rights legislation to render “homosexual citizens the same protections now guaranteed to others.”
De La Fuentes also said this about her organization's landmark policy:
“The adoption of this resolution reaffirms the APA's dedication to promoting inclusivity, dignity and access to quality health care for all individuals, regardless of their gender identity or expression.”
Her areas of erudition include ethics in psychology, feminist psychology, multicultural and Latiné psychologies. She is the former president of the Society for the Psychology of Women and former chair of the Committee for Women in Psychology.
The policy released under her guardianship, titled “Policy Statement on Affirming Evidence-Based Inclusive Care for Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Nonbinary Individuals, Addressing Misinformation, and the Role of Psychological Practice and Science,” was approved by the APA’s governing Council of Representatives on Feb. 24 by a vote of 153-9 with one abstention.
"It sends a clear message that state bans on gender-affirming care disregard the comprehensive body of medical and psychological research supporting the positive impact of such treatments in alleviating psychological distress and improving overall well-being for transgender, gender diverse and nonbinary individuals throughout their lives,” De La Fuentes said.
The APA elects new presidents annually and since 2010 only four men have served in that capacity. The psychology and psychiatry professional ranks existed of almost 100% white males in the 1800s and 1900s.
Thema Bryant-Davis, PhD., served as president in 2023. The daughter of two pastors, she is an ordained elder in the African American Episcopal Church and leads South Los Angeles' historic First AME Church's mental health ministry.
“The people and communities we as psychologists serve are living through a difficult period that continues to bring hurt and injustice to so many,” Bryant-Davis said.
“The APA and the science of psychology are ideally situated to address the triple threat of trauma, loss and inequities that currently plagues our society. It is my vision to leverage psychology to enhance people’s lives in a post-pandemic world," she added.
She previously served as president of the Society for the Psychology of Women, and from 2000 to 2004 she was the APA’s representative to the United Nations.
Since at least 2011, the visionary APA has adopted a mission of seeking "social justice."
Conservative political analyst and podcast host Candace Owens recently admitted she had outraged the psychology community last week when she centered her show around the question, "Did you know that the entire field of psychology was built by pedophiles and perverts?"
Owens highlighted the stories of psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud and John Money, a 20th-century researcher. She focused on Magnus Hirschfeld, a German-Jewish sexologist whose work was burned by Nazis.
She alleged that Freud, Money and Hirschfield were "homosexual" and that they had a focus on the sexuality of children.
“Yes, he was a homosexual,” she said, referring to Hirschfeld. She also introduced a photograph in which Hirschfeld is seen holding hands with a man.
“In my view, he’s a pervert,” Owens said. “It doesn’t mean that his library or his institute should have been burned down— there’s no excuse for burning down an institute— but we don’t then also pretend that somebody that is perverse is also a hero.”
Tell us your opinion in the comments. How should treatment for individuals who want to change their birth genders proceed?
____________________________
Reginald Spann is the Publisher and Senior Content Editor of both The Christian Commander and Seven Angels Sentinel. He has been writing and editing professionally for over 20 years and is the author of the book: The Healing of a Nation.
A graduate of the University of Missouri - St. Louis' school of psychology (BA) with a minor in communications, he is a freelance journalist who is available for editing and writing about a variety of content including sports, religion, politics, entertainment and pop culture.
You may contact him through our Partnership page at christiancommander.com
Living has been made complicated either by self or by others who are for or against regardless of race, sex, gender preference. I believe that people in general want to be loved, happy and accepted by others no matter what race, gender, etc. It’s a hard conversation but must continue to be reviewed.