The Gamut

On the one hand, hoo-fuckin'-ray! I'm so proud today that the two states in which I've spent most of my life are Massachusetts and California. It's very true that the fight is far from over, but this is cause for celebration, particularly as it's given our dear Governor Schwarzenegger a face-saving way to stop being a traitorous dickhead.

On the other one, Uh-oh. The DSM V, the new revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, is now in the works, and section on Gender Identity Disorders is up for revision. In and of itself, this isn't a problem; in fact, it might have been a very good thing, in many people's view. But anyone who listened to this two-part series on NPR on three families and their choices on how to deal with their transgendered children -- and has a functioning heart and brain -- knows that Dr. Kenneth Zucker is probably the worst possible choice the APA could have made to be in charge of the panel overseeing the revisions. I'm horrified for the profession I'm about to enter that this man would be considered to play this role. And I'm particularly horrified for the transgendered and intersexed children whose lives are warped and made hellish by this kind of "expertise". I know I'll be making my voice heard; I hope others will, too.