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American Psychological Association and transgender people

The American Psychology Association (APA) is a psychology trade group.

Note: for the trade group of psychiatrists that uses the same acronym, see American Psychiatric Association.

Background

The APA was founded in 1892. Nineteen divisions were approved in 1944, and by 2007 there were 54 divsions.

APA Division 44, which is the APA’s division for psychologists who are sex and gender minorities or who specialize in the topic, was a stronghold of anti-trans psychologists for many years.

In 2024 they had approximately157,000 members,

2008 Task Force

In 2008 APA published a controversial report prepared Task Force consisting of several people heavily involved in promoting disease models of trans and gender diverse people, including Kenneth J. Zucker and Anne Lawrence.

2024 policy resolution

On February 28, 2024, APA published a policy resolution after it passed 153-9.

References

APA Council of Representatives (February 2024). APA Policy Statement on Affirming Evidence-Based Inclusive Care for Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Nonbinary Individuals, Addressing Misinformation, and the Role of Psychological Practice and Science. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/transgender-nonbinary-inclusive-care (PDF)

Reed, Erin (February 28, 2024). World’s Largest Psych Association Passes Policy Supporting Trans Youth Care By Massive Margin. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/worlds-largest-psych-association

Resources

American Psychological Association (apa.org)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

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