Lima: Peru has officially removed the classification of transgender people as mentally ill, marking a significant shift in policy.

According to Thai News Agency, the decision comes after the Peruvian government initially granted transgender individuals access to psychological treatment in 2024, using an older version of the International Code of Conduct (ICD) that still considered transgenderism a mental health disorder.

This decision sparked widespread opposition from human rights organizations, which highlighted that the World Health Organization (WHO) had removed transgenderism from its classification as a mental disorder in 2019. The Peruvian government's initial move led to misunderstandings, with many mistakenly believing that transgenderism was being labeled as an illness once again.

The controversy began under President Dina Boluarte's administration when a decree was issued, aimed at expanding mental health care access for transgender individuals. Human rights groups, including the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, criticized the move, arguing that such pathologization contributes to human rights abuses against the LGBT community.

Despite the government's intent to support mental health services for transgender people, the reliance on the outdated ICD Edition 10 guidelines, which categorized transgender people under mental health disorders, was heavily criticized. The more recent ICD 11th edition, released in 2022, reclassified transgenderism under Conditions Related to Sexual Health, aligning with changes made by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013.

In response to mounting pressure, the Peruvian Ministry of Health announced in June 2024 that it would cease classifying transgender people as having a mental disorder, aligning with international standards and reflecting a broader understanding of transgender health as a matter of sexual, not mental, health.