Book Details Psychiatric Abuse of Queer Teen
In my last article, I wrote about some of the problems experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) teenagers. In this article, I'd like to discuss The Last Time I Wore a Dress by Daphne Scholinski and Jane Meredith Adams. Published in 1997 and set in the early 1980's, this book provides a real-life account of the psychiatric abuse endured over a period of three years by a teenage lesbian diagnosed with gender identity disorder.
Summary
Daphne Scholinski is fifteen years old when her parents decide she is out of control and place her in a series of mental hospitals.
Certainly, Daphne has her share of problems. She has been sexually abused several times-by a female babysitter, by a man who lived across the street from her mother and convinced her he was a professional hit man, and by a thirty year old man who told the fourteen year old Daphne they were having a "relationship." Her mother ignores her. Her father routinely beats her with a belt. She is understandably depressed.
To gain some small measure of acceptance, she joins a street gang, begins using drugs and alcohol, and engages in petty theft.
Yet these are not the problems which concern the staff of the first hospital when Daphne arrives at their door. Instead they notice that she looks more like a boy than a girl. Her hair is cropped short, unstyled. She doesn't wear makeup. She doesn't wear "feminine" clothes. Most of her close friends are boys. Daphne's psychiatrist gives her the diagnosis "gender identity disorder," a label which haunts her over the next three years.
From the first hospital, she is transferred to another facility specializing in the care of adolescents. Here, Daphne's "treatment" involves learning how to fix her hair and put on makeup. She is given "points" for wearing eye shadow, "points" for selecting feminine garb, and, even more disturbingly, "points" for hugging male counselors.
In a private journal, Daphne notes that she sometimes feels attracted to girls. A staff member read this, and several counselors question her closely about her sexual orientation. Scared and uncertain, Daphne denies being a lesbian.
Daphne's second facility is designed to provide short-term treatment. Unsurprisingly, her gender identification does not change. More importantly, she has a good insurance policy, so rather than being discharged, she is transferred to a third psychiatric facility where she remains until the age of eighteen.
At the third facility, Daphne is no longer required to wear makeup and feminine clothing, but the staff continues to confront her about her masculine behavior and her sexual orientation. When she develops a friendship with another female resident, several staff members accuse her of having a sexual relationship with the resident. She and her friend are allowed to see each other only under the strictest supervision, and all phone calls are monitored.
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