The politics of classification: Discursive tensions in the Danish political debate on trans identity and diagnosis in the years 2007-2016

Abstract

In 2017, the Danish Parliament reclassified the diagnosis used for gender-affirming treatment, officially removing it from the list of psychiatric disorders. This paper examines how trans identity was negotiated and constructed in the political debate during the years leading up to this reclassification. Through the lens of political discourse analysis, it explores how two conflicting discourses emerged in opposition to each other, out of which a liberal rights approach to trans identity gained legitimacy throughout the period in question. We argue that although the two discourses offer different problematizations of trans identity, they both entail a gender essentialist framework.

Keywords: Discourse analysis; Gender; Health equity; Health politics; LGBTQ+; Sociology of diagnosis; Transgender.