Alphabet Soup: HBIGDA now WPATH

May 21, 2007 in Gender by Rebecca | No comments

In case you missed it. The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association, Inc. (HBIGDA) has changed it’s name to The World Professional Association for Transgender Health or WPATH.

Their new address on the web is : http://www.wpath.org/

And, if you don’t know, WPATH is, in their own words:

is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity disorders.

We have approximately 500 members from around the world, in fields such as medicine, psychology, law, social work, counselling, psychotherapy, family studies, sociology, anthropology, voice therapy, sexology and other related fields

And, their bi-ennial symposium is in the USA this year! It’ll be held in Chicago, September 5th through September 8th at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The hotel is in downtown and a short walk to Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue. The theme for the conference is: “Looking to the Future: Environment, Transplantation, Telepsychiatry”

Here are some of what will be talked about:

Dr. Walter Bockting on Spectrum vs Dichotomy
Dr. Stan Monstrey - Surgery Overview and State of the Art
Dr. Randi Ettner - Children of Transsexuals
Dr. Richard Green - Nature versus Nurture

Surprisingly you do not have to be a physician to join. You can be on the latest cutting edge developments in the field of Gender Identity Disorder by joining as a supporting member!

Supporting membership is available to individuals who do not work in the professional disciplines listed above, but still have an interest in being an active member of the organization. Supporting membership costs $110 (US) per year, and carries no voting privileges.