Boy Scout Casey Chambers carries a rainbow flag during the San Francisco Gay Pride Festival in California June 29, 2014. ReutersWorld Health Organisation has finally decided take down being a transgender from the list of mental disorders. In its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) which will come into effect on 1 January 2022, new chapter on sexual health brings together conditions like gender incongruence that were previously categorized in other ways.
Disease categories related to sexuality in a chapter on mental and behavioural disorders in the 10th revision (ICD-10) included categories for diagnoses based primarily on sexual orientation even though ICD-10 stated that sexual orientation alone is not a disorder.
It is a common myth that sexual orientation is linked to gender identity when in reality they are two different things altogether.
The gender incongruence or dysphoria is a condition where the individual fails to identify with the gender assigned to them by birth. It may or may not exhibit itself in a trans person. Although an excruciating condition for some, it no longer tags them as mentally ill, according to the ICD-11.
Often, it is understood that every transgender person has to go through a medical procedure to be 'normal.' Medical procedures require extensive hormonal treatments and surgeries which not every person can afford or be bold enough to go through. Irrespective of the surgeries, trans people find it difficult to be accepted as equals in the society, often facing discrimination and even violent encounters.
The decision might have a positive contribution in sensitisation of the society towards trans people and in the stigma against them. The right choice of medical terms also affects how people perceive a condition. Humanisation of trans people is inevitable for holding together a democracy that promises equal rights to all its citizens.
The decision has come during the pride month of June – a month dedicated to celebration, awareness and fighting for the rights of the LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender +) community throughout the world.
