Vietnam Adopts World Health Standards for LGBTQ+ People

The Vietnamese Health Ministry confirmed that homosexuality and being transgender are no longer considered mental health conditions, bringing the country into line with the global standard.

The directive, published by the Health Ministry, read: “the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) have confirmed that homosexuality is entirely not an illness, therefore homosexuality cannot be ‘cured’ nor need[s] to be ‘cured’ and cannot be converted in any way.”

Human Rights Watch have said that the news will bring relief to families and LGBTQ+ people across Vietnam. “LGBT people in Vietnam deserve access to health information and services without discrimination, and the Health Ministry’s new directive is a major step in the right direction.”

Vietnam has made progress in the last decade in the field of LGBTQ+ rights. Starting with removing same-sex partnerships from a list of banned unions in 2013 (although not then implementing legal recognition), to allowing trans people to change their name and legal gender (although again, not implementing a legal route to do so), to finally voting in favor of greater protections for LGBTQ+ people at the UN.

Progress has been slow but steady. It is hoped that the recent directive from the Health Ministry will help tackle pervasive beliefs in the country that homosexuality can be diagnosed and cured.

The pressure on people to be straight and cisgender is reinforced by medical professionals pointing to the status of being LGBTQ+ as a mental health condition, with some calling it a disease of the body and mind.

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