The American Psychiatric Association officially updated its manual with new stances on Asperger's, gender identity and more.

Asperger’s syndrome will be dropped from the latest edition of the psychiatrist’s “bible,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced on Saturday the changes to its flagship manual that doctors use to diagnose patients with mental disorders. It’s the first major rewrite to the DSM in nearly 20 years.

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Full details of all the revisions will come in May 2013 when the APA’s new manual is published, but the impact will be huge, affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. The manual also is important for the insurance industry in deciding what treatment to pay for, and it helps schools decide how to allot special education.

It’s good to see progress being made on such an important issue. That being said, I think most would agree that we’ve still got a long way to go when it comes to societal acceptance of trans- folk. A change in the wording of the DSM-V is nice, but an end to hate-fueled acts of violence would be much nicer.