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Should transgender people use the bathroom that matches their identity?
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Transgender people require treatment not accomodation

Transgender people suffer from an illness. Rather than trying to accommodate them, we should be trying to treat their mental illness. Transgender people need treatment, not accommodation.
Discriminatory Health Warning LGBTQ Misleading Offensive

Context

Transgender people have long been seen as suffering from a gender identity disorder. A large segment of the population still sees transgender people in this way, as suffering from a disorder that requires treatment, not validation.

The Argument

Being transgender is not a matter of identity. It is a mental illness. Therefore, there should not even be a debate about what bathroom they should use. The country should not be pandering to the mentally ill but instead trying to treat them.[1] In fact, the vast majority of young adults that express gender dysphoria in adolescence do not go on to become transgender adults, indicating that their feelings of gender dysphoria were little more than a phase or uncertain period.[2]

Counter arguments

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently reclassified what it means to be transgender. It is no longer treating it as disorder or mental illness. The WHO is the benchmark by which many countries classify disorders and mental illness. Therefore, it is not a mental illness.[3] The UN also recently passed a landmark resolution, the Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity acknowledges transgender discrimination and appointed an independent monitor to tackle transgender discrimination.[4]

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Transgender people are suffering from a mental illness. [P2] To acknowledge their gender identity is to pander to them. They don’t need validation, they need treatment.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Transgender citizens are not mentally ill.

References

  1. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/being-transgender-is-a-mental-disorder-israeli-insurance-company-says-1.6246003
  2. https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/sites/journalofethics.ama-assn.org/files/2018-05/pfor3-1611.pdf
  3. https://theconversation.com/being-transgender-is-not-a-mental-illness-and-the-who-should-acknowledge-this-63182
  4. https://theconversation.com/lgbti-vote-at-the-un-shows-battle-for-human-rights-is-far-from-won-62307
This page was last edited on Monday, 19 Oct 2020 at 16:38 UTC