WHO declassifies transgenderism as "mental illness," now "sexual health"

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The World Health Organization (WHO) will no longer categorize being transgender as a “mental disorder”, after a major resolution to amend its health guidelines was approved May 25.

The United Nations’ health agency approved a resolution to remove “gender identity disorder” from its global manual of diagnoses, in a move that will have a “liberating effect on transgender people worldwide,” says Human Rights Watch. According to the newly-revised version of the International Classification of Diseases (known as ICD-11), published by the WHO, “gender identity disorders” have been reframed as “gender incongruence.” Gender nonconformity is now included in a chapter on sexual health, rather than being listed with “mental disorders” as was the case previously. Activists are now hoping that the ICD-11 will be implemented by the WHO’s 194 member states over the next three years.

In several countries around the world, the process of medically transitioning gender is based on the now-outdated ICD framework, which classifies being transgender as a “gender identity disorder” under the category of “mental disorders.” In Japan for example, the law requires those seeking to transition gender to have a diagnosis of “gender identity disorder” and to be sterilized before their new gender identity can be reflected on official documentation. U.N. member states, of which Japan is one, are now responsible for putting ICD-11 into practice at a national level, a lengthy process that has been given a target deadline of January 1, 2022.

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