| abstract
| - Gender Identity Disorder (also called Gender Dysphoria) is a medical diagnosis used to describe transgender people. It is described as a marked difference between a person's gender identity and the gender they are assigned by others which lasts for at least six months. It also often includes a strong desire to change one's gender expression and sex characteristics to match gender identity, and to be perceived as that gender by others. Gender Identity Disorder is treated by supporting the patient as they transition, particularly by granting access to medical transition procedures. The purpose of the diagnosis is in part to ensure that medical transition is accessible to transgender people who require it, although it can be considered a medicalization of transgender identities. Although most standards of care encourage that the patient's desires be supported, some doctors require the patient to "prove" their diagnosis by socially transitioning for some period and/or demonstrating adherence to gender roles before granting access to medical transition. This can be considered a form of gatekeeping, particularly as it often excludes non-binary people whose identities are less recognised by those around them.
- Gender identity disorder (GID) is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe persons who experience significant gender dysphoria (discontent with the biological sex they were born with). It is a psychiatric classification and describes the problems related to transexuality, transgender identity, and transvestism. It is the diagnostic classification most commonly applied to transsexuals. Harry Benjamin, an endocrinologist and one of the first physicians to assist transsexuals obtain sex reassignment, quotes from a letter he received from Dr. Christian Hamburger, the physician who treated Christine Jorgensen: These many personal letters from almost 500 deeply unhappy persons leave an overwhelming impression. One tragic existence is unfolded after another; they cry for help and understanding. It is depressing to realize how little can be done to come to their aid. One feels it a duty to appeal to the medical profession and to the responsible legislature: do your utmost to ease the existence of these [people] who are deprived of the possibilities of a harmonious and happy life—through no fault of their own. Gender identity disorder in children is usually reported as "having always been there" since childhood, and is considered clinically distinct from GID which appears in adolescence or adulthood, which has been reported by some as intensifying over time. Since many cultures strongly disapprove of cross-gender behavior, it often results in significant problems for affected persons and those in close relationships with them. In many cases, discomfort is also reported as stemming from the feeling that one's body is "wrong" or meant to be different.
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