At the Nexus of Medicalization and Demedicalization Processes: The Case of "Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood" and Homosexuality.

In this paper, I address the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of demedicalization by studying debates over "Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood" (GIDC), a controversial psychiatric diagnosis given to gender variant children and linked to homosexuality. Drawing on published research and clinical literatures, archival data, interviews with GIDC researcher-clinicians and their critics, and fieldwork at professional and advocacy meetings, I analyze debates over the legitimacy of the diagnosis in order to understand the relationship between the demedicalization of homosexuality and subsequent medicalization processes. GIDC debates frequently center on the question of the diagnosis's relationship to homosexuality, with some scholars suggesting that GIDC may be an example of the remedicalization of homosexuality. Instead, I argue that as a demedicalized category (and specifically because it has been demedicalized), homosexuality has been a powerful force in shaping debates over GIDC's legitimacy. In the case of homosexuality and GIDC, there continues to be a highly interactional and interconnected relationship between demedicalization and medicalization processes. I thus conclude that even demedicalized categories, such as homosexuality, can continue to exert a great deal of influence in medicalization processes. While demedicalization and medicalization have often been understood as bi-directional processes, I argue that they are linked in an interactive relationship, and that demedicalization should not simply be thought of as the "end" of medicalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]