Gender Identity Disorder in Children - Alternative Approaches To Gender Diversity in Children

Alternative Approaches To Gender Diversity in Children

The existence of two-spirit people (those understood to be connected to both the masculine and feminine spirit) has been documented in over 130 pre-colonial Indigenous nations in North America including the Zuni lhamana and the Lakota winkte. In some of these nations, the identification of a two-spirit child was regarded as a blessing for the family and the community. While the roles which two-spirit people held in their communities varied widely from nation to nation, in some cases they were held in high regard, for example We'wha who was the cultural ambassador for the Zuni people during the late 19th century. The historical and contemporary existence of alternative gender roles has also been documented worldwide, for example: the kathoey in Thailand and Laos, the hijra of India, the Muxe of the Zapotec people in Mexico, the Mukhannathun of what is now Saudi Arabia, the Mahu (person) in Hawaii, the fakaleiti in Tonga and the fa’afafine in Samoa. Though the historical meaning of these roles is often disputed, their existence is not.

Referencing contemporary Western views on gender diversity, psychologist Diane Ehrensaft states: "I am witnessing a shake-up in the mental health community as training sessions, workshops and conferences are proliferating all over this country and around the world, demanding that we reevaluate the binary system of gender, throw out the idea that gender nonconformity is a disorder, and establish new guidelines for facilitating the healthy development of gender-creative children." Child-adolescent psychiatrist Edgardo Menvielle and psychotherapist Catherine Tuerck offer a support group for parents of gender non-conforming children at the Children’s National Medical Centre in Washington D.C., aimed "not at changing children’s behaviours but at helping parents to be supportive". Other publications are beginning to call for a similar approach, to support parents to help their child become their authentic self. Community organizations established to support these families have begun to develop, such as Gender Spectrum, Trans Youth Family Allies and Trans Kids Purple Rainbow as well as conferences such as Gender Odyssey Family Conference and summer camps such as Camp Aranu’tiq all with the goal of supporting healthy families with gender non conforming children. Popular media accounts of parents assisting their children to live in their felt gender role have recently begun to emerge. These stories demonstrate that children and their parents face substantial stigma, however Menvielle maintains that "the therapist should focus on helping the child and family cope with intolerance and social prejudice, not on the child’s behaviours, interests or choice of playmates". A host of new terms being applied to these children (such as gender variant), gender non-conforming, gender-creative and gender-independent) indicates that many are beginning to reject the label of Gender Identity Disorder in Children.