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Robert Dickey vs. transgender people

Robert Dickey was a Canadian psychiatrist and anti-transgender activist. Dickey was affiliated with the anti-trans Clarke Institute (now CAMH).

Background

Robert Lee “Rob” Dickey was born on August 2, 1953 in Govan, Saskatchewan to Earl Frederick Dickey (1907–1991) and Mary (Stan) Dickey (1918–1985).

Dickey earned a medical degree from University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine in 1978 and completed a postgraduate education certificate in 1979. Dickey was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.

Dickey died on January 20, 2020. Dickey was in a long-term relationship with Michael Williams.

Anti-trans activism

Michelle Kosilek lawsuit

Dickey was an expert witness in a lawsuit brought by American transgender prisoner Michelle Kosilek. Kosilek murdered spouse Cheryl McCaul in May 1990 and was serving a life sentence in Massachusetts. Kosilek successfully sued Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction Commissioner Michael T. Maloney for refusing to provide trans healthcare to Kosilek.

“Maloney then made it clear to DOC doctors that he did not want to provide Kosilek or any transgender prisoner with hormones or surgery, and the DOC proceeded to find a Canadian doctor, Robert Dickey, M.D., who believed inmates should never be considered for sex reassignment surgery. Dr. Dickey advocated a “freeze-frame” policy whereby transgender individuals would be frozen in the frame in which they entered prison. For instance, only persons receiving hormones before they were in prison would get hormones in prison. Despite Maloney having little familiarity with the rationale behind Dr. Dickey’s philosophy on the treatment of gender identity disorder, and not having read the Standards of Care, Maloney adopted Dr. Dickey’s freeze-frame policy for the DOC. Dr. Dickey testified at trial, but the court did not find him persuasive because he did not subscribe to the Standards of Care, which the court found that prudent professionals follow, and his approach did not allow for individual assessment.”

References

Staff report (October 2022). In loving memory of Dr. Robert Dickey. Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_9960/File/Sharing%20the%20Good%20Things/October%202022%20Sharing%20the%20Good%20Things%20sm.pdf

Arbor Memorial (2020). Dr. Robert Lee Dickey. https://www.arbormemorial.ca/en/lynett/obituaries/dr-robert-lee-dickey/44426.html

Hébert, William (2019). Prisoners of Paradox: Ambivalent Trans-Affirmation in the Canadian Prison. [dissertation] University of Toronto https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/fe1e43a3-495c-4174-85ae-9f6eade63f40/content

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (January 17, 2014). Kosilek v. Spencer, No. 12-2194 https://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/12-2194P-01A.pdf

Klasfield, Adam (September 5, 2012). Wife Killer Can Get Sex-Reassignment Surgery. Courthouse News Service https://www.courthousenews.com/wife-killer-can-get-sex-reassignment-surgery/

Selected writing by Dickey

Petersen M, Stephens J, Dickey R, Lewis W (1996). Transsexuals within the Prison System: An International Survey of Correctional Services Policies. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 14:219–229, 1996. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0798(199621)14:2<219::AID-BSL234>3.0.CO;2-N

Petersen, M.E., Dickey, R. (1995). Surgical sex reassignment: A comparative survey of International centers. Archives of Sexual Behavior 24, 135–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01541578

Freund, K., Watson, R. & Dickey, R. (1991). The types of heterosexual gender identity disorder. Annals of Sex Research 4, 93–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00850141

Stermac L, Blanchard R, Clemmensen LH, Dickey R (1991). Group therapy for gender-dysphoric heterosexual men, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 17:4, 252-258. https://doi.org/0.1080/00926239108404349

Resources

Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care (waypointcentre.ca)

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (cpso.on.ca)