Systemic barriers controlling transgender people’s access to social, legal, and medical transition, such as:
- A gender therapist must certify the legitimacy of a person’s transgender identity before the individual is permitted to pursue aspects of social, legal, and/or medical transition. Physicians are required to follow the guidelines outlined in the WPATH’s standards of care.
- Legal jurisdictions require a transgender individual to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria before they can change their name and/or gender marker.
- Social transitioning requires real-life experience for at least one year to access surgeries and, in some instances, access to hormones.
- Medical transitioning requires certain psychological evaluations to be passed in order to be considered “stable enough” to access gender-affirming surgeries. Otherwise, transgender individuals who do not meet the diagnostic criteria for “gender dysphoria” may experience major barriers to accessing services should they desire to transition medically.