ABSTRACT
Psychiatric diagnoses related to gender identity have undergone much change and speculation. The pathologization of gender nonconformity is divided into a fetishized behaviour and an identity 'disorder'. Therefore, psychiatry initially framed homosexuality and gender nonconformity as a continuum, with declarations of a transgender identity not only being positioned as a more 'severe' form of homosexuality, but also as a 'delusion'. Transvestism phenomena range from occasional solitary wearing of female clothes to extensive involvement in a transvestic subculture. Autogynephilia is also highly criticized for its framing of gender-nonconforming, cross-dressing and transgender identities as a paraphilia. Benjamin described cross-dressing, transvestism and transsexualism as varying degrees of gender nonconformity. As a result, gender identity became framed as a fluid and malleable construct that could be changed in childhood during a 'critical period' of development. Unfortunately, families supportive of their gender-nonconforming child are seen as a barrier to successful therapy rather than a strength within gender conversion approaches.
