Peru protesters call for repeal of legislation classifying transgender identities as mental illnesses News
Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peru protesters call for repeal of legislation classifying transgender identities as mental illnesses

Hundreds of demonstrators marched Friday in Peru’s capital Lima to call for the repeal of recent legislation that classifies transgender individuals as having a mental illness to provide them access to health benefits.

The law includes transgender identities as mental health conditions in the country’s Essential Health Insurance Plan, which outlines the health conditions covered by health insurance policies. Activists, including Gianna Camacho of the Coordinacion Nacional LGTBIQ+, said the law was transphobic and offensive because it defined their identity as an illness.

The Peruvian government approved a law last week that classifies people who identify as transgender, cross-dressers, and those with gender identity disorders as having “illnesses” that qualify them for mental health services from both public and private providers.

Following this occurrence, around 500 protesters took to the streets of Lima, the capital of Peru, to voice their demands for the repeal of the recently approved law.

The Peruvian Ministry of Health released a statement shortly after the law’s enactment, expressing its opposition to the stigmatisation of LGBTQ+ individuals and clarifying that the legal language aims to enhance health coverage. The ministry further stated that it does not consider sexual orientation and gender identity an indicator of illness, and condemned the practice of conversion therapy. The ministry said that it would not repeal the decree, arguing that doing so would remove “the right to care” as provided by the country.

The protests coincided with the International Day Against Homophobia, a yearly event since 2005 that marks the removal of homosexuality, once considered a mental illness, from the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases on May 17, 1990.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.