Challenging a sacrosanct tradition? Depathologisation and policy representations of 'care' for people seeking access to gender-affirming medical technologies.  

This episode discusses the utility of a critical approach to policy analysis as methodology for enquiry into the social production of mental health and illness. Situated within the complexities of work to depathologise trans, gender diverse, and non-binary people, this presentation offers a critical analysis of policies that guide healthcare practices for people seeking access to medical gender affirmations. It investigates representations of “care”, offering an overview of a comparative analysis of a policy whose proposed care-practices pivot around DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for “Gender Dysphoria”, and a policy proposing a non-pathologising, rights-based healthcare model for the provision of gender-related body modifications. On this episode our guest is Ms Rebecca Howe, a PhD Candidate from the University of Sydney, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.