[GoneGirl]

I don't like this scale.

I too have difficulty with this scale.

Yes, Flame and Annabel, this scale is far from perfect, but I still see it referenced, for lack of anything better. Maybe we should all take Karren's view and forget about trying to classify people.

Benjamin was an early advocate for gender dysphorics and set up the original Standards of Care (SOC) for the treatment and rehabilitation of transsexuals at John Hopkins Hospital. He published his work "The Transsexual Phenomenon" back in 1966 which included his Six-point scale. He did add the caveat that the categories overlapped allowing for variations seen in his patient population. Unfortunately, his scale was used as a yardstick to select which patients would be allowed to fully transition, that is, you had to be diagnosed as Type 5 or 6 to get permission to undergo HRT and be allowed SRS. Otherwise, I guess you were just a sexual pervert. Not good.

Practices have changed a lot since Benjamin's day. As I understand it, the latest "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-5) no longer labels transgender people as "disordered". The diagnostic term "Gender Identity Disorder" has been replaced with "Gender Dysphoria", acknowledging that many transgender people are not dysphoric and require no treatment. Diagnostic criteria are stress based, not behavioral, and the determination of whether a patient should be permitted to transition is at the discretion of the therapist.

BTW, I did find it useful to place myself on the Benjamin scale when I was discussing my variant gender identity with my wife (along with provisos). Putting a box around something can be helpful sometimes.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm in error here, or add to it.

Thanks for your inputs Sarah, Karren, Flame, & Annabel.

CK