Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Persons

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Not being a straight person/cisgendered is not grounds for being diagnosed with a mental disorder. This means merely being a LGBT person does not make you mentally ill.¹) However, when you experience significant distress due to the difference between the gender you were assigned at birth and gender that you identify with, you may be diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder.² 

In India, you have some rights with respect to mental health:

• You cannot be categorised as mentally ill merely if you do not conform to the moral, social, cultural, work or political values or religious beliefs of your community.³ For example, you are not mentally ill just because you are gay. This is true even if your community does not approve of homosexuality.
• You have a right to mental healthcare services offered by mental healthcare establishments funded/run by the government.⁴
• Healthcare services cannot be denied to you, as referred to above, on the basis of your sex, gender or sexual orientation etc ⁵.

If you face any discrimination while accessing medical,psychological healthcare because of your sexual orientation or gender identity, you can take action with the help of the options given here .

1. National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India & Ors. (AIR 2014 SC 1863[↩]
2. ICD.Codes, ICD-10-CM Code F64.8, https://icd.codes/icd10cm/F648; Section 2(s), Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.[↩]
3. Section 3 (3), Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. [↩]
4. Section 18 (1), Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. [↩]
5. Section 18 (2), Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.[↩]