Today is the International Action Day for Trans Depathologisation
ILGA-Europe welcomes the proposal by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to remove the notion of "gender identity disorder" from the International Classification of Diseases.
Print HTMLMoreover the WHO proposes a ”gender incongruence” category under the new section 6: ”Conditions related to sexual health”. Not labelling trans people as mentally ill anymore will be an important step forward and will help to reduce stigma.
However, ILGA-Europe strongly regrets that WHO experts decided to maintain a diagnosis of “gender incongruence in childhood”. Gender variance in childhood does not require any medical intervention. Children before puberty do not need access to medical services, such as hormonal, surgical or other services. What they need above all is a supportive environment. In addition, childhood being a period of change and exploration, it is impossible to know how gender-variant children will grow up; therefore, imposing on them such a diagnosis does not make sense.
ILGA-Europe calls on the European Union to continue to advocate for a full depathologisation of trans identities at international level. We also call on policy makers at national level across Europe, to ensure that the fundamental rights of all trans people and gender-variant children are fully respected.
