Sexual diversity organizations in Peru this Friday they raised their “strong protest” against the government for a decree that classifies transsexuality as a mental disorder, following an old classification of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“It is a decree that It takes us back three decades, when homosexuality was ‘decatalogued’ by the WHO (…) We cannot live in a country where we are considered sick”Jorge Apolaya told AFP, spokesperson for the Lima Pride March Collective.
This Friday is A protest has been called to demand the repeal of the rule. The demonstration coincides with the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
The decree published in Peru
Through a decree published on May 10, andThe Ministry of Health updated the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS), a list of the minimum benefits to which a member of public, mixed or private health care is entitled.
Sticking to oneold WHO classification of diseases, the government wanted to expand mental health coverage to treatments derived from gender identity, for example, affirmation therapies or sex reassignment operations. However, The classification he used, known as ICD-10, describes transsexuality as a “mental disorder.”a term that the WHO itself eliminated in 2022 from its revised diagnostic manual in force since that year.
A Ministry of Health sourcewho did not want to reveal his identity, told AFP this Friday that “At the moment there is no information” about a possible repeal of the decree.
In a previous statement, That portfolio explained that it used the WHO classification that is still in force in Peru waiting for “the progressive implementation” of the new disease manual to begin, “as happens in other countries.” “We express our respect for gender identitiesas well as our rejection of the stigmatization of sexual diversity”, the organization noted.
What happens if the rule is not repealed
However, heThe groups warned that as long as the norm is not repealed, LGBT people are exposed to “serious consequences”, like the so-called conversion therapies. “We must not forget that the “Reparative therapies consisted of treatments (such as) electroshock, ice baths.”commented the spokesperson for the Lima Pride March Collective.
Peru does not recognize marriage or civil union between homosexuals, nor does it have a law that allows trans people to include their gender identity in their documents.
Source: Ambito
