LGBT activists and healthcare professionals have warned against categorising the LGBT community as mental health patients. This follows a suggestion by two MPs from the Islamist party PAS that LGBT individuals should be considered as suffering from mental health illnesses. The transgender rights advocacy group Justice for Sisters (JFS) has urged the Ministry of Health (MoH) to immediately debunk the misinformation presented by the MPs, explaining that such notions seem to excuse harmful conversion therapies. JFS also added that such misinformation is counter-productive to MoH’s efforts to reduce health vulnerability and risks among marginalised groups, such as the LGBT community. Several studies have indicated that sexual orientation is an innate trait that cannot be changed, and attempts to do so can cause psychological harm like depression, anxiety, and suicidality.
Conversion therapy has been banned in many countries such as the United States, Canada, Taiwan, India, New Zealand, and France due to evidence that such practices could cause harm to the community. The medical professionals who signed a joint statement to Malay Mail emphasised that homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgenderism are not subcultures and cannot be imposed onto others. Some members of the LGBT community have suffered from humiliating and degrading treatments, violence, and lack of access to education, self-determination, and freedom of expression.
Homosexuality was originally classified as a mental disorder under “sociopathic personality disturbance” in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published in 1952. In 1973, homosexuality was removed in the second edition of the DSM, although it was instead replaced with “sexual orientation disturbance”. In the following three editions of the manual, homosexuality was deemphasised as a psychiatric disorder until its eventual complete declassification or removal in 2013 from the fifth edition (DSM-5). It, however, listed “gender dysphoria”, indicating “significant distress or impairment” for persons whose gender identity does not reflect their sex as registered at birth.
The recent suggestion by the PAS MPs to categorise LGBT persons as mental health patients was criticised by LGBT rights organisations, mental health and human rights advocates, and medical professionals. They pointed out that such suggestions perpetuated harmful stereotypes and discrimination against the safety and well-being of those in the minority community. They also emphasised that sexuality is not a choice and should not be pathologised, and that attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression are not backed by any scientific evidence and can cause long-term psychological harm. They called for the recognition, acceptance, and respect of LGBT individuals as who they are, and for the upholding of values of diversity and inclusion to build a more progressive nation.
- LGBT mental health
- Harmful perceptions of LGBT individuals
- Conversion therapy and LGBT individuals
- Stigma surrounding mental health and sexuality
- LGBTQ+ healthcare disparities
News Source : Lee E She
Source Link :Conflating LGBT with mental disorder feeds harmful perception that ‘cure’ exists, activists and healthcare professionals warn/