Trans people are officially classified as ‘mentally ill’ in Peru
by David Averre, Daily Mail:
Peru has officially classified trans people as ‘mentally ill’.
Under the decree signed by President Dina Boluarte, ‘transsexualism, dual-role transvestism, gender identity disorder in childhood, other gender identity disorders and fetishistic transvestism’ are now all recorded as mental illnesses.
The move, which comes just days before the 34-year anniversary of the World Health Organisation‘s removal of homosexuality from the list of International Classification of Diseases (ICD), has prompted fury from rights groups.
The WHO also removed transsexuality from its disease manual in 2019 when a new version of the ICD was proposed and came into effect in 2022.
Peru’s government argues the decree will make ‘psychological treatment’ freely available to those affected and said it ‘categorically reaffirms respect for the dignity of the person and their free actions within the framework of human rights, providing health services for their benefit’.
But rights groups warned the inclusion of trans and intersex people as mentally ill could open the door to conversion therapy, which is currently banned in Peru.
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