The DSM-5 is published by the Americal Psychiatric Association and includes all kinds of diagnoses relevant to mental health. Being transgender is no longer considered a mental illness, but the manual does contain a chapter of gender dysphoria, which is a possible effect of gender incongruence (a mismatch between someone's assigned gender and their experienced gender.)
The manual also have an interesting introductory chapter, which presents the gender relevant language of American psychiatry right now.
I am taking the liberty of republishing the revised 2022 introduction to the chapter on gender dysphoria here, as it can serve as useful reminder in a time where all kinds of transphobic activists claim that "science" is on their side.
I have reformatted the text to increase legibility. The headlines are mine.
Note that I do not necessarily agree with the use of all of these terms ("disorders of sex development" should have been binned in the same way as "gender identity disorder"), but all in all I think the APA has managed to develop a terminology that encompasses gender variance in both a scientific and socially respectful manner.
Note also that:
- The term “desired gender” is now “experienced gender."
- The term “cross-sex medical procedure” is now “gender-affirming medical procedure."
- The term “natal male”/“natal female” is now “individual assigned male/female at birth.”
Finally: The American Psychiatric Association should publish the whole volume for free online, in the spirit of open science and open access. Asking for 170 US$ for a text that has so many ramifications for so many people represents a serious democratic problem.
Here's the introduction to the DSM-5-TR chapter on gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria
In this chapter, there is one overarching diagnosis of gender dysphoria, with separate developmentally appropriate criteria sets for children and for adolescents and adults.
Biological sex
The area of sex and gender is highly controversial and has led to a proliferation of terms whose meanings vary over time and within and between disciplines. An additional source of confusion is that in English “sex” connotes both male/female and sexuality.