WHO declassifies being transgender as a mental illness, undermines Trump's trans military ban

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WHO declassifies being transgender as a mental illness, undermines Trump’s trans military ban
It's a change that undermines the rationale for Trump's transgender military ban.
Zack Ford
Jun 20, 2018, 4:31 pm


The World Health Organization (WHO) has made an historic change, ending the era in which being transgender was considered a mental illness. In doing so, it has significantly undermined the Trump administration’s purported rationale for banning transgender people from military service.

In a new revision to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) — the first since 1992 — the language to describe transgender identities has been changed and moved. Instead of using the term “transsexualism,” the manual now refers to “gender incongruence,” and it is now listed among sexual health conditions — not mental disorders.

The WHO explained in a press statement that the “evidence is now clear that it is not a mental disorder” and listing it as such “can cause enormous stigma for people who are transgender.” It remains listed elsewhere in the manual because the WHO recognizes that “there remain significant health care needs that can best be met if the condition is coded under the ICD.”

Dr. Lale Say, coordinator for the WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research, explained in an accompanying video that by reducing stigma, the change may increase access to care for transgender people. She also preemptively countered a common talking point about conservatives that this was just a political decision. “In this case, the decision was not only based on the advocacy or feedback from the concerned communities,” she explained. “All available evidence was reviewed and discussed by an external advisory group, and [that evidence] — together with the scientific basis of this condition and the feedback from the professional community and concerned communities — formed the basis of this decision.”

more...

https://thinkprogress.org/world-health-organization-transgender-mental-disorder-dd8f92a42c50/

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