Get Ready for REPATH!
By Stella O'Malley
Stella O’Malley introduces her livestream with Mia Hughes on the REPATH campaign
This week, Genspect founder Dr. Stella O’Malley and Mia Hughes, our director of Policy and Research, broadcast their ‘Beyond Gender’ podcast live on Genspect’s social media platforms. They discussed Genspect’s REPATH campaign, which officially launches on Sept 15th 2026.
REPATH calls for a sea change in the way that we talk about, conceptualize, and treat gender distress. Just as language like “gender affirming care” frames medical interventions in an inaccurate way, and terms such as “sex-rejecting procedures” better reflect reality, so too the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” requires serious reform. Stella O’Malley explains.
REPATH calls for transgender ideation to be recognised as a psychological symptom that deserves careful exploration and, where appropriate, thorough assessment, differential diagnosis and psychological or psychiatric care. REPATH is concerned with transgender ideation, not gender nonconformity. Gender nonconformity is not a mental disorder.
Transgender ideation describes the persistent or recurring preoccupation with being or becoming the opposite sex, or identifying as another gender. It can be expressed through repeated information seeking, changes in appearance or pronouns, binding, packing, tucking, hair removal, voice training and body modification. Many people experiencing transgender ideation will seek social or medical transition.
Like suicidal ideation, transgender ideation is a symptom rather than a diagnosis. It can arise through many different psychological pathways, which is precisely why curiosity, exploration and differential diagnosis are so important.
We believe the psycho-social approach is the compassionate approach. Counselling and psychotherapy are not magic wands, nor are they the only ways in which people change. Physical challenge, outdoor pursuits, art, literature, self-reflection, stronger friendships and falling in love can all enlarge a person’s life and loosen the hold of transgender ideation.
Watch the episode below.
ALSO! Did you know that Tuesday was Gordon Guyatt day?
Tuesday was the first anniversary of Beyond Gender episode during which “the father of evidence-based medicine” said that it was “ridiculous” to say he would ever describe gender-affirming care as “medically necessary” was “completely wrong” and that he would have to “jump off a bridge” if he said that. You can enjoy the clip on Mia’s X profile.
Discover guests and topics to favourite in this handy ‘Beyond Gender’ podcast episode guide
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