Iranian Transgender No Longer Classified As Mentally Disturbed

Iran’s military will no longer classify transgender people as “mentally disturbed,” said Hasan Mousavi Chelk, who heads the Socially Vulnerable Groups section of the State Agency for National Well-Being.

Chelk said Jan. 6 that putting such a determination on transgender people’s military discharge papers creates problems for them.

From now on, transgender people being separated from the military will be labeled as “diabetics” or “people with a hormonal imbalance,” he said.

In reality, Chelk said, Iran’s 4,000 self-identified transgender people have a “sexual identity disorder.” They are citizens, he said, and the government views them “favorably.”

This story was originally published via Transgender Daily.