Various descriptors in the criteria (‘‘strongly,’’ ‘‘persistent/
persistently,’’ ‘‘insistence,’’ ‘‘preoccupation,’’ and ‘‘compelling
desire’’) were all presumably used to differentiate children with
potential gender identity problems from children who might, on
a transitory or infrequent basis, verbalize a desire to be of the
other sex or engage in cross-gender behavior (B2 for boys) (see,
e.g., Linday, 1994). This point was also emphasized in the text
portion of the DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association,
1980, pp. 264–265). Because the criteria for girls required the
presence of ‘‘anatomic dysphoria’’ (Criterion B), but the criteria
for boys did not (Criterion B2 was sufficient for this criterion), it
could be argued that the criteria for girls were more conservative
than they were for boys (for a historical documentation of this
point using unpublished archival material, see Bryant, 2007).
