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Peru Chooses Bigotry in Medical Services

3-4 Minuten

Peru’s government published a presidential decree on

May 10 classifying trans identities as mental health
conditions in the country’s Essential Health Insurance
Plan, which lists insurable health conditions for
insurance policies. The decree, signed by President Dina
Boluarte, the minister of health, and the minister of the
economy, also refers to “ego-dystonic sexual orientation”
as a mental health condition.

A Ministry of Health official said the policy change was

meant to facilitate coverage for “transsexual people and
people with gender identity disorders,” particularly in
private clinics. However, the decree is profoundly
regressive.

It employs obsolete classifications related to gender

identity and sexual orientation that the World Health
Organization (WHO) replaced in the most recent
International Classification of Diseases, published in
2019. The decree also further calcifies prejudices
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
people in Peru which have led to violence
and discrimination against this population.

The Ministry of Health has since affirmed it does not

view LGBT identities as “illnesses,” but the decree
remains in place despite heavy criticism from Peruvian
human rights organizations and activists,
including PROMSEX, Más Igualdad Perú, and Gahela
Cari.

Officially pathologizing LGBT people in Peru may

seriously undermine efforts to improve rights
protections based on sexual orientation and gender
identity. Peru currently does not allow same-sex couples
to marry or enter into civil unions, does not have a
procedure for trans people to change their documents to
reflect their gender identity, and does not have civil laws
prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people. The
decree could also give legitimacy to “conversion
practices” and exacerbate mental health issues that
LGBT communities face in Peru.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the

Child, a group of UN human rights experts, the Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights, the African
Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the
Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of
Europe have urged governments worldwide to reform
medical classifications because pathologization is “one
of the root causes behind the human rights violations
that [LGBT people] face.”

The Peruvian government should discard this biased and

unscientific decree and aim to implement the
WHO’s updated classification of diseases with respect
to sexual orientation and gender identity. It should also
consult with Peru’s LGBT organizations about how best
to ensure their communities’ rights to physical and
mental health through rights-respecting and
proportionate public policies.