In 2006, in response to well-documented patterns of abuse, a distinguished group of international human rights experts met in Yogyakarta, Indonesia to outline a set of international principles relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. The result was the Yogyakarta Principles: a universal guide to human rights which affirm binding international legal standards with which all States must comply.
One such principle states:
PRINCIPLE 18. Protection from Medical Abuses
No person may be forced to undergo any form of medical or psychological treatment, procedure, testing, or be confined to a medical facility, based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Notwithstanding any classifications to the contrary, a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity are not, in and of themselves, medical conditions and are not to be treated, cured or suppressed.
States shall:
- a) Take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure full protection against harmful medical practices based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including on the basis of stereotypes, whether derived from culture or otherwise, regarding conduct, physical appearance or perceived gender norms;
- b) Take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure that no child’s body is irreversibly altered by medical procedures in an attempt to impose a gender identity without the full, free and informed consent of the child in accordance with the age and maturity of the child and guided by the principle that in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration;
- c) Establish child protection mechanisms whereby no child is at risk of, or subjected to, medical abuse;
- d) Ensure protection of persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities against unethical or involuntary medical procedures or research, including in relation to vaccines, treatments or microbicides for HIV/AIDS or other diseases;
- e) Review and amend any health funding provisions or programmes, including those of a development-assistance nature, which may promote, facilitate or in any other way render possible such abuses;
- f) Ensure that any medical or psychological treatment or counselling does not, explicitly or implicitly, treat sexual orientation and gender identity as medical conditions to be treated, cured or suppressed.
To this day, almost five years later, no country has fully adopted these recommendations. The UN promised to pass resolutions that would contemplate these principles but it has yet to happen. The Council of Europe has recommended that Member States adopt them but again, so far this hasn’t happened.
These principles seek to end, amongst other human rights violations, the medicalization of trans* identities and all gender related matters. Half a decade has passed and I do not even see much mention of these Principles in the press. What happened ever since? Another case of “inconvenient issues” just forgotten? Or did these principles make some people uncomfortable so they were quickly set aside?
Incidentally, I found out that in an unprecedented court ruling, the principles were applied in Argentina (first time to happen in Latin America, in fact) to grant a transman his right to identity without demanding that he undergoes any kind of medical procedure or psychological evaluation. The judge heard his life story and the statements from friends and family that confirmed this man’s desire to be recognized legally in his identity and granted the request. For those interested, the full story, in Spanish (sorry! no time to translate this time) can be found here.
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