Abstract
Gender identity is a sociocultural construct based (in nearly every society) on a binary norm: female and male. Transsexual individuals suffer from intense family and social discrimination because they express a dissident sexuality incongruent with this norm. They assert they feel trapped in a body that does not belong to them, so they seek help from health professionals to modify their bodies, to "adapt their bodies to their minds." This essay discusses health care for transsexual persons in Cuba from a human rights perspective that does not pathologize their gender identification.
Highlights
Gender identity is a sociocultural construct based on a binary norm: female and male
Transsexuality is defined as discordance between sex assigned at birth and the gender identity constructed by a person throughout his/her life
Female transsexuality refers to individuals whose legal sexual identity is assigned by virtue of their masculine genitalia but who profoundly and consistently feel they belong to the female gender
Summary
Transsexuality is defined as discordance between sex assigned at birth and the gender identity constructed by a person throughout his/her life. These SOC are based on combining three therapeutic elements: reallife experience, hormonal treatment and sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) They stipulate that all transsexual persons should initially receive a mental health assessment by a team of specialists in psychology, psychiatry and psychometry, to determine if the gender identity “disorder” is a symptom of psychiatric illness. The team is required to provide psychological accompaniment throughout the process of transition to the other sex These SOC require one and a half to two years of real-life experience living in the desired gender role, plus consolidation of changes desired from hormonal treatment, to determine if the person meets the criteria for transsexuality and is eligible for SRS. Our aim here is to discuss health care for transsexual persons in Cuba from a nonpathologizing and human rights perspective
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