Vietnam has finally brought their health policy in line with global health and human rights standards as they confirmed that same-sex attraction and being transgender are not mental health conditions.
As reported by Human Rights Watch, the Vietnamese Health Ministry concurred with the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) that ‘homosexuality is entirely not an illness.”
Because of this, “homosexuality cannot be ‘cured’ nor need[s] to be ‘cured’ and cannot be converted in any way,” they said.
International groups laud Vietnam decision
Human Rights Watch lauded the decision, saying that this will recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity will “bring relief to LGBT people and their families across Vietnam.”
Kyle Knight, senior health and LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said “the Health Ministry’s new directive is a major step in the right direction.”
“Vietnam now joins the growing number of governments around the world affirming that same-sex attraction and gender identity are both natural variations of human experience,” Knight said.
Meanwhile, Phong Vuong, the LGBTI rights program manager at The Institute for Studies of Society, Economy, and Environment (iSEE), told Al Jazeera that this announcement “is like a dream.”
“It is something that we never thought would have happened, let alone coming from the most trusted source for medical information in Vietnam… I think the impact on queer youth will be very, very evident,” Vuong added.
Vietnam lays down the rules on new directive
In their directive, the Vietnamese Health Ministry said that health care providers should not “consider homosexual, bisexual and transgender (people) an illness.”
Moreover, they will be pushing for an enhanced information dissemination program so that “medical doctors, staff and patients” have a correct understanding about homosexual, bisexual and transgender persons.
Furthermore, while administrating medical examination or treatment for LGBT people, “gender equality and respect must be ensured to avoid discrimination and prejudices against these groups.”
They also said there should not be interference or force treatment for these groups of patients.
If there are, these should be “in the form of psychological assistance and performed only by those who have the knowledge of sexual identity.”
Lastly, they called for an internal review and inspection of the medical examination and treatment of establishments and practitioners to ensure compliance with professional codes according to the law.
Slow steps in the right direction for LGBT groups
Human Rights Watch reported that Vietnam has previously made some progress on LGBT rights with the initial start in 2000, when same-sex marriage had been banned.
But in 2013, the government removed same-sex unions from the list of forbidden relationships though this update didn’t allow for legal recognition of same-sex relationships.
In 2015, the National Assembly updated their civil code so that it wouldn’t be illegal for transgender people to change their first name and legal gender– but they didn’t create a legal gender recognition procedure.
In 2016, Vietnam– as a member of the UN Human Rights Council– voted in favor of a resolution on the need for protection against violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
However, Human Rights Watch documented in 2020 that factual misunderstandings and negative stereotypes still prop up human rights abuses against LGBT people in Vietnam.