World Health Organization will stop classifying trans people as mentally ill

In January 2022, when the update officially goes into effect, gender incongruence will appear in the chapter on sexual health, instead.

As reported by CNN, the WHO expects the change to improve social acceptance among trans people. “It was taken out from the mental health disorders because we had a better understanding that this wasn’t actually a mental health condition, and leaving it there was causing stigma,” Dr Lale Say, coordinator of WHO’s Adolescents and At-risk Populations team, says in a YouTube announcement.

Julia Ehrt, executive director of Transgender Europe, told CNN she’s elated to see that the WHO understands gender identity isn’t a mental health issue.

The ICD is used by healthcare providers to diagnose conditions and help scientists share health info, according to CNN, moving gender incongruence out of the section on mental health disorders will hopefully lead to better global acceptance of trans people, and better quality healthcare for trans people.