Translations:Transition/6/en

Before the 1960s few countries offered safe, legal medical options for people experiencing gender dysphoria and many criminalized gender-nonconforming behaviours or mandated unproven psychiatric treatments. In response to this problem, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association now known as the World Professional Association for Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) authored one of the earliest sets of clinical guidelines for the express purpose of ensuring "lasting personal comfort with the gendered self in order to maximize overall psychological well-being and self-fulfilment". The WPATH 'Standards of Care' are the most widespread clinical guidelines used by professionals working with transsexual, transgender, or gender variant people, and have undergone several revisions since its initial publication. Traditionally these guidelines have been structured in relation to the Transsexualism diagnosis and as such have presented a dilemma for non-transsexual individuals who have been unable to meet the eligibility criteria for medical treatment.