The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), formerly the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA), is a

professional organization A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and the ...

devoted to the understanding and treatment of

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

and

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...

, and creating standardized treatment for

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

and

gender variant Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

people. WPATH was founded in September 1979 by

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

and

sexologist Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

Harry Benjamin Harry Benjamin (January 12, 1885 – August 24, 1986) was a German-American endocrinologist and sexologist, widely known for his clinical work with transgender people. Early life and career Benjamin was born in Berlin, and raised in a German ...

, with the goal of creating an international community of professionals specializing in treating gender variance.

Organization

Membership

Professionals include anyone working in disciplines such as medicine, psychology, law, social work, counseling, psychotherapy, family studies, sociology, anthropology, speech and voice therapy and sexology. Non-professionals may also join, paying the same membership fee, but without voting privileges. The organization is funded by its membership and by donations and grants from non-commercial sources.

Regional organizations

WPATH is affiliated with several regional organizations, including the European Professional Association for Transgender Health, the United States Professional Association for Transgender Health and ASIAPATH.

Standards of Care

WPATH publishes the

Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People The Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People (SOC) is an international clinical protocol by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) outlining the recommended assessment and treatment for ...

, educates professionals and consumers, sponsors scientific conferences, and provides ethical guidelines for professionals.Wong, Gillian (June 17, 2009)
China preps 1st guidelines for sex change surgery.
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' The first version of the Standards of Care were published in 1979.Figures, K. (2007). Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Is Founded. In Faderman, Lillian & Retter, Yolanda (Eds.). ''Great Events from History: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Events, 1848-2006'' Salem Press, Version 7 was published in 2011. WPATH released Version 8 in 2022.

History

The organization was originally named after

, one of the earliest physicians to work with

people.Allee, Kegan M. "Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association". In ''Encyclopedia of gender and society, Volume 1'', p. 402. SAGE,

Presidents

* Paul A. Walker, Ph.D., 1979–1981 *

Donald R. Laub Donald R. Laub Sr. (born January 1, 1935) is an American retired plastic surgeon and founder of Interplast, which led multidisciplinary teams on reconstructive surgery missions to developing countries. Education Laub completed his undergraduate ...

, M.D., 1981–1983 * Milton T. Edgerton, M.D., 1983–1985 *

Ira B. Pauly Ira Basil Pauly (born November 15, 1930) is an American psychiatrist who was an All American college football player at UCLA, and is known for his influential work on transsexualism. High school, college, and medical school Pauly attended grammar ...

, M.D., 1985–1987 * Aaron T. Bilowitz, M.D., 1987–1989 * Jan Walinder, M.D., 1989–1991 * Leah Schaefer, Ed.D., 1991–1995 * Friedmann Pfaefflin, M.D. 1995–1997 * Richard Green, J.D., 1997–1999 *

Alice Webb Alice Webb is a British television executive. She is CEO of Mercury Studios, an arm of the Universal Music Group, established on her appointment in 2020. The newly formed company is the parent of Eagle Rock Entertainment. She was previously presid ...

, DHS, 1999 *

Eli Coleman Eli Coleman is an American sexologist. He is the director of the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota, and a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. In 2007, he was appointed the first endowed Chair ...

, Ph.D., 1999–2003 * Walter Meyer III, M.D., 2003–2005 * Stan Monstrey, M.D., 2005–2007 *

Stephen Whittle Stephen Thomas Whittle, (born 29 May 1955) is a British legal scholar and activist with the transgender activist group Press for Change. Since 2007, he has been Professor of Equalities Law in the School of Law at Manchester Metropolitan Univer ...

, OBE, 2007–2009 * Walter O.Bockting, Ph.D., L.P., 2009–2011 * Lin Fraser, Ed.D., 2011–2013 *

Jamison Green Jamison "James" Green (born November 8, 1948) is a prominent transgender rights activist, author, and educator focused on policy work. Green began living openly as a trans man in the late 1980s and is considered one of the few publicly open tra ...

, Ph.D., 2013–2015 * Gail Knudson, M.D., FRCPC, 2016–2018 * Vin Tangpricha, M.D., Ph.D., 2018–2020 *Walter Pierre Bouman, M.D., Ph.D., 2020–2022 *

Marci Bowers Marci Lee Bowers (born January 18, 1958) is an American gynecologist and surgeon who specializes in Sex reassignment surgery, gender confirmation surgeries. Bowers is viewed as an innovator in gender confirmation/affirmation surgery, and is the ...

, M.D., 2022–2024

References

{{Authority control Transgender and medicine International LGBT organizations LGBT professional associations Transgender organizations in the United States International medical and health organizations Non-profit organizations based in Illinois Organizations established in 1979 Transgender studies