File photo: Iris/Scanpix DK 
 
 Denmark is set to officially delete the definition of transgender as a mental illness. The move will make Denmark the world's first health authority to take the step. 
 
 From January 1st, 2017, transgender will no longer appear on Denmark's definition of mental illnesses, the Ministry of Health has confirmed. 
 
 The move would make Denmark a groundbreaker if the World Health Organisation (WHO) does not make a similar move before the autumn, news agency Ritzau reported. 
 
 “At the moment, transgender is listed as a mental illness or behavioural problem. That is incredibly stigmatising and in no way reflects how we see transgender people in Denmark. It should be a neutral diagnosis,” Social Democrat health spokesman Flemming Møller Mortensen told Ritzau. 
 
 "The WHO is currently working on a new system for registering diagnoses. It has been working on it for a very, very long time. Now we've run out of patience, and want to send out a signal saying that if the system is not changed by October, then we in Denmark will go it alone,” said Mortensen. 
 
 Health Minister Sophie Løhde confirmed to broadcaster DR that if the WHO changes are not completed by the autumn then the government would seek a “Danish solo act” and changed the definition itself. 
 
 Mortensen added that stigmatisation was not the only reason to change the definition. 
 
 “It's incredibly discriminatory to put transgender people in a box with mental and behavioural illnesses. It also has other consequences. Trans people can be denied insurance because they have a diagnosis," he said. 
 
 
 
 LGBT Denmark's trans issues spokesperson Linda Thor Pedersen said the move was a “big step forward” for transgender rights. 
 
 “Being transgender is a natural variation, like being left-handed,” Pedersen told Ritzau. 
 
 “We are not sick, and therefore don't belong in the chapter on mental illnesses. Some people still think we are mentally ill, because our diagnosis is in the psychiatric chapter. This proposal can make a big difference towards changing that,” Pedersen said. 
 
 ||||| LGBT APA Revises Manual: Being Transgender Is No Longer A Mental Disorder 
 
 This Saturday, the American Psychiatric Association board of trustees approved the latest proposed revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, what will now be known as the DSM-5. This marks a historic milestone for people who are transgender and gender non-conforming, as their identities are no longer classified as a mental disorder. Homosexuality was similarly declassified as a mental disorder in 1973. 
 
 Until now, the term “gender identity disorder” has been used to diagnose people who are transgender. For conservatives, this has provided rhetorical carte blanche to describe the entire trans committee as disordered, delusional, and mentally ill. In some cases, this diagnosis has even been used to discriminate against trans people, with claims that they are unfit parents or employees, as examples. On the other hand, insurance companies have been more willing to cover the expenses associated with transition under this language, because treatment for a disorder is considered medically necessary, rather than cosmetic. 
 
 The new manual will diagnose transgender people with “Gender Dysphoria,” which communicates the emotional distress that can result from “a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender.” This will allow for affirmative treatment and transition care without the stigma of disorder. Earlier this year, the APA also released new health guidelines for transgender patients, as well as a position statement affirming transgender care and civil rights. Both documents align with a new standard for respecting trans people in the medical community. 
 
 It was only after homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder that ex-gay ministries formed, protesting the medical community’s decision to affirm non-heterosexual orientations. Some dangerous ex-trans ministries exist already and are championed by Focus on the Family, NARTH, PFOX, and other anti-LGBT organizations. It’s possible that these efforts may similarly increase in the wake of this DSM revision.
– Having "run out of patience" with the World Health Organization, Denmark on Jan. 1, 2017, will become the first country to no longer define being transgender as a mental illness, the Independent reports. Currently, the WHO classifies being transgender as a mental or behavioral disorder. And, although the organization is reassessing that stance, progress has been "characteristically slow." Classifying transgender people as having a disorder, one Danish government official says, is "incredibly stigmatizing and in no way reflects how we see transgender people in Denmark." And it creates practical problems for transgender people, he adds, such as denial of health insurance. Denmark, the Independent notes, has been criticized in the past for forcibly sterilizing transgender people and requiring medical approval before they could be legally recognized as a different gender. Thanks to a 2014 ruling, however, adults can now choose their gender without medical approval. Linda Thor Pedersen of LGBT Denmark tells the Local that being transgender "is a natural variation, like being left-handed," adding that some think transgender people are mentally ill simply because of the way it has been classified: "This proposal can make a big difference toward changing that." In 2012, according to Think Progress, the American Psychiatric Association declassified being transgender as a mental disorder.