Israel agrees that being trans is not a mental disorder

New guidelines, drafted by Israel’s health ministry after three years of consulting with LGBT and trans organisations, set out how hospitals and healthcare facilities must treat transgender people.

The new guidance on how to treat trans people in healthcare settings follows joint recommendations, made in December 2020, by the Justice and Social Welfare Ministries that suggested implementing sweeping reforms to trans rights in Israel.

The guidance directs that hospitals and healthcare facilities must have at least one staff member trained in trans awareness, use a trans person’s correct pronouns regardless of the gender on their official documents, and to provide unisex facilities where possible while allowing trans people to use gendered spaces in accordance with their gender identity.

Ministers also noted that so-called conversion therapy that tries to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity has no ethical or professional basis, as well as confirming that being trans is not a psychological disorder.

Israel is considered the most progressive country in the Mideast regarding LGBT rights, they recognize same-sex unions though they still don’t legally allow same-sex marriage. In any case, Israel stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the region and becomes an exception on acceptance of LGBT rights.