UN World Org No Longer Classifies Transgender as Mental Illness But Then There is a Crazy Name Donald
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it no longer classifies being transgender as a mental illness.
The specialized agency is part of the United Nations and focuses on international public health. The WHO removed all trans-related categories from mental disorders in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) this week.
They've now been classified under other sexual health conditions, with the WHO explaining in a report that "the rationale being that while evidence is now clear that it is not a mental disorder, and indeed classifying it in this can cause enormous stigma for people who are transgender, there remain significant health care needs that can best be met if the condition is coded under the ICD."
The change not only will decrease stigma worldwide by validating transgender identity, it will also guide medical professionals treating transgender individuals. legitimate. Lastly, the change will also guide medical professionals.
"The intention is to reduce barriers to care," Geoffrey Reed, a psychologist worked on the ICD, told The New York Times.
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Over 100 civil rights groups have signed onto a letter warning to the Federal Bureau of Prisons of the dangers posed by the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era protections for transgender inmates.
The agency updated its Transgender Offender Manual last month, changing from a policy that had housed trans inmates on a case-by-case basis to one that relies solely on “biological sex.”
“The designation to a facility of the inmate’s identified gender would be appropriate only in rare cases,” the new version of the manual reads. It also states that transgender inmate safety is important, but that officials must also “consider whether placement would threaten the management and security of the institution and/or pose a risk to other inmates in the institution.”
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“Transgender prisoners will unquestionably suffer serious harm if this policy is implemented as written,” the letter to Bureau of Prisons acting Director Hugh Hurwitz argues. “We ask that you reaffirm the BOP’s commitment to the safety of all of the people in its custody. We ask that you reaffirm the BOP’s congressionally-mandated obligation to adhere to each of the final National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape under the Prison Rape Elimination Act. We ask that you follow the requirements of PREA and the U.S. Constitution, not to mention basic human decency, and house transgender prisoners safely, based on their individual needs.” nThe changes to the manual came after a group of Christian women in a Texas prison sued in U.S. District Court, claiming violations of privacy and endangerment of physical and mental health.
Ian Thompson, a legislative representative for the American Civil Liberties Union, who signed the letter—alongside groups such as the American Psychological Association, AIDS United, and the NAACP—told HuffPost the new BOP policy “all but mandates that transgender people in prison are to be housed according to their assigned sex at birth, regardless of the person’s gender identity.”
Thompson added that the policy “sends a clear message of disrespect, discrimination, and disregard that we know will have serious implications for the safety of transgender people in federal prison,” and is based in “anti-trans bigotry that animates the actions of this Justice Department.”
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