Brody's Notes... The European Parliament Passes Resolution Asking World Health Organisation To Stop Classifying Transgendered As A Mental Disorder

European Parliament Building
Photo courtesy of the EP Press Office

By Brody Levesque | STRASBOURG, FRANCE -- In a resolution passed Wednesday, the European Parliament is petitioning the World Health Organization to cease classifying transgender people as mentally ill. The current classification for 'Gender dysphoria' is listed as a ‘mental and behavioural disorder’ in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases.

The language of the text adopted yesterday by the EU legislative body reads:

"The European Parliament calls on the Commission and the World Health Organization to withdraw gender identity disorders from the list of mental and behavioural disorders, and ensure a non-pathologising reclassification in the negotiations on the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases.”

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) serves as a global reference on physical and mental troubles. Until 1990, the ICD also classified homosexuality as a mental illness. The list is currently under review- the next version should be finalised in 2015.

Dutch parliamentarian member Emine Bozkurt, author of this resolution, said:

“Transgender identities are still considered a mental disorder by the World Health Organisation. This must be changed urgently, and certainly by the time the next version comes into effect in 2015.

“Transgender people wishing to live in a body that matches their identity are of course entitled to medical treatment and its benefits, but the negative stigma surrounding them must stop.”

Vice-President of the EU's LGBT Intergroup, Raül Romeva i Rueda MEP stated:

“Considering transgender people mentally ill means they are not free to decide for themselves, and are often disrespected by the medical profession, their employers and their families. This call sends one clear message to the Commission and the WHO: the pathologisation of gender identity must stop, as the pathologisation of homosexuality ended in 1990.”