Protesters in Peru criticize a new insurance regulation that labels transgender individuals as mentally sick

On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators marched through the capital of Peru, calling for the repeal of a recent law that classifies transgender individuals among others as suffering from a mental disorder in order to grant them access to health benefits.

500 or so protestors marched nonviolently through Lima’s downtown, holding signs that said things like “No more stigmas” and “My identity is not a disease.”

Last week, the administration of President Dina Boluarte approved the law on an administrative level. It states that people who identify as transgender, as well as “cross dressers” and “others with gender identity disorders,” are diagnosed with “illnesses” and can receive mental health services from both public and private providers.

No reported altercations occurred when the demonstrators arrived to the health ministry’s headquarters.

Activist Gahela Cari Contreras declared, “Gender identities are no longer considered pathologies,” accusing Boluarte’s administration of attempting to violate the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. “We’re not going to let them.”

The law’s detractors contend that since the nation’s PEAS health standards were already in place and provided universal access to mental health care, there was no need to revise them.

Officials from the government have attempted to label the dispute as a misunderstanding.

The health ministry stated that the legislation only aims to guarantee more comprehensive health coverage and that it rejects the stigmatization of LGBTQ+ individuals in a statement issued soon after the law was passed.

The department “categorically reaffirms respect for the dignity of the person and their free actions within the framework of human rights, providing health services for their benefit,” according to the press release.

The demonstrators were unmoved by the ministry’s reasoning, and some medical professionals called for a revision to the law to fix the problem.

Pedro Riega Lopez, a physician and the dean of Peru’s CMP medical faculty, stated, “We don’t see any need to incorporate diagnoses or pathologies that no longer exist into health insurance plans.”