The Health Law Project and the Standards of Care were developed in the wake of widespread dissatisfaction with the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. Four years later, that dissatisfaction remains. Four years later, that de-listing is still pending. Thus Standard 3 was recently revised. The Boulton and Park Survey may also be ordered from the above address.
Conferences are also available.
Transsexualism is an ancient and persistent part of the human experience and is not in itself a medical illness or mental disorder. Transsexualism is a desire to change the expression of one s gender identity. Persons have the right to express their gender identity through changes to their physical appearance, including the use of hormones and reconstructive surgery. Persons denied the ability to exercise control over their bodies in terms of gender expression, through informed access to medical services, may experience significant distress and suffer diminished capacity to function socially, economically and sexually. If the patient is married, the physician may not require divorce, but may also require the spouse to sigh a waiver of liability form.