On Sunday, the New York Times published an op-ed from Richard A.
Friedman, Weill Cornell Medical College professor of clinical
psychiatry, who asks, “How changeable is gender?”
Though Friedman sets up his piece by discussing the biological
underpinnings of gender identity and the experience of being
transgender, he ultimately explains his “skepticism” about assisting
transgender people to change their bodies to match their identities.
“After all,” he concludes, “medical and psychological treatments should
be driven by the best available scientific evidence — not political
pressure or cherished beliefs.”
