Peru Calls Transgender People ‘mentally ill’ In New Classification; Peru Classifies Transgender, Nonbinary and Intersex People as ‘mentally ill’

Peru calls transgender people ‘mentally ill’ in new classification:

The government of Peru has issued a decree classifying transsexualism, transvestism, and other gender identities as a “mental illness.”

The decree, signed on Friday, May 10, by Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, the minister of health, and the minister of the economy, states that people diagnosed with “transsexualism, dual-role transvestism, gender identity disorder in childhood, other gender identity disorders, gender identity disorder (unspecified), fetish transvestism and egodystonic sexual orientation” would be covered for their “mental health problem” under the country’s Essential Health Insurance Plan.

“In the field of mental health, the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) considers the mental health problems contemplated in the Chapter on Mental and Behavioral Disorders of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) of the World Health Organization, in force at the time of health care, as insurable conditions that must be financed for all insured persons, including the provision of medical supplies,” the decree said on the president’s website.

Human Rights Watch disagreed with the decree’s categorization by calling them “obsolete classifications.”

“It employs obsolete classifications related to gender identity and sexual orientation that the World Health Organization (WHO) replaced in the most recent International Classification of Diseases, published in 2019. The decree also further calcifies prejudices against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Peru which have led to violence and discrimination against this population,” researcher Cristian Gonzalez Cabrera wrote in his analysis of the decree.

Peruvian transgender activists denounced the decision.

“100 years after the decriminalization of homosexuality, the @Minsa_Peru has no better idea than to include trans people in the category of mental illnesses. We demand and we will not rest until its repeal,” Jheinser Pacaya, director of Outfest Peru, said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. —>READ MORE HERE

Peru classifies transgender, nonbinary and intersex people as ‘mentally ill’:

The Peruvian government has officially classified transgender, nonbinary and intersex people as “mentally ill.”

The controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community, the Peruvian health ministry explained, according to the Telegraph.

The decree will supposedly alter the language in the Essentials Health Insurance Plan to reflect that trans and intersex people have a mental disorder, LGBTQ+ outlet Pink News reported.

LGBTQ+ activist groups across Peru, however, slammed the decision as a major step backward in the fight for their rights and safety.

“100 years after the decriminalization of homosexuality, the @Minsa_Peru has nothing better to do than to include trans people in the category of mental illnesses,” Jheinser Pacaya, director of OutfestPeru, wrote on X.

“We demand and we will not rest until its repeal,” they added. —>READ MORE HERE

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