Legal gender recognition is the new pathologization

On Wednesday, 22nd April 2015, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a transgender resolution, which already was called historic. Indeed, it raises for the first time on this level some important issues such as compulsory sterilization, unwanted operations and other medical “treatment”, labeling transgender people as mentally ill, discrimination, etc. The Parliament calls for the depathologization of gender variance, introduction of anti-discrimination legislation and procedures of legal gender recognition based on self-determination.

It is the latter point that will be called into question here. While the idea of gender self-determination should be glorified, it is nullified by the fact that one can “choose” from only two options, thus, the Resolution serves the needs of gender-binary trans* people. While mentioning the statistical data, according to which 73% of trans* people are non-binary, the Resolution offers a so called “third gender option” for them. While there truly exist a few people who identify as “third gender” (which is rare in the European cultural context), “thirdgendering” all gender non-binary people not only doesn’t solve any problem, but adds a new basis for discrimination. What’s more, it is not so rare that “possibilities” turn out to become “obligations”, and there’s a chance that some states will require all trans* people to be legally recognized as “third gender”.

Here I’d like to compare gender with a prison. What this resolution proposes is the right to choose between two (or three) cages. But we are still in the prison. We don’t want to change on cage for another, or have three cages instead of two. We want no cage at all!

What cisgender politicians do not realize is that they themselves are in this prison. They are not ready to destroy it and liberate all the people, including themselves. They regard transgender people as a problem that has to be solved by creating a special law for them and integrating them into the existing cissexist scheme. They are not ready to reflect on the fact that their own cisnormativity is the problem. They enjoy their role as “rescuers” of a “small group of persons”, but don’t understand that all these issues are about themselves as well. It was ridiculous to see these “liberators” dressed in distinctive “female” and “male” clothing and addressing each other with “Ms.” and “Mr.”! It is them who really needs “rescuing”.

Creating special laws for transgender people that will allow them to “pass” more like cisgender is based on the assumption that transgenderism is a “pathology” (even if the opposite is claimed) which needs a “treatment” to be transformed into a “healthy” (cisgender) state. Moreover, request of some “special rights” is imputed to us by our opponents. However, that is not what is really needed. If trans* people do not “fit” into current laws based on binary cisnormative scheme, it is this scheme that must be annihilated, not special laws created to make us “fit” better.

Picketing on the occasion of adopting of transgender resolution by PACE, 22d April 2015, Support Transgenre Strasbourg.

Just before the voting on the resolution in PACE, a picketing in front of Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg was held by Support Transgenre Strasbourg group. It is the above mentioned ideology that was behind this action. We demand:

– an end and prevention of all trans* specific legislation;
– removal of sex and gender indications from all identity papers;
– compensation by the State for the systematic oppression of trans* people;
– free and unconditional access to requisite healthcare without classifying trans* people as being ill, mentally or otherwise, with unacceptable vague terminology such as “gender dysphoria” or “gender incongruence”;

Sad to say that many of these claims are not understood not only by the parliamentarians, but also by so many trans* activists.