October 23, 2015

“We must stop treating transgender people as if they are diseased,” said the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBT people Jonas Gunnarsson (Sweden, SOC), on the eve of the International Day of Action for Trans Depathologisation.

“The continued inclusion of so-called ‘gender dysphoria’ and ‘gender identity disorder’ in medical diagnosis manuals is disrespectful of the human dignity of transgender people,” he noted. “In Europe and around the world, transgender people are still targets of heinous crimes and face unacceptable discrimination. The fact that they are still listed as having a mental illness is one more unnecessary obstacle to their acceptance and social inclusion. The Assembly resoundingly recognised this in its historic resolution on discrimination against transgender people in Europe this April”, Mr Gunnarsson said.

“Outdated classifications of diseases at national and international level should be removed. Transgender people’s access to medical care should be simple and stigma-free,” he concluded.