When something like homosexuality is classified as a mental illness, it's simply a tragedy. That too when none other than the international peace-keeping body United Nations (UN) believes it too, where do we even begin. But with the changing times, the body too realised that it needs to reassess its beliefs.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which falls under the UN, maintains what is known as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), in layman's terms, it's an extensive list of diseases. As and when medical research advances, the list too is reviewed thoroughly. Why are we telling you this? Because ICD-9 listed homosexuality as a disease and that's the tragedy we were talking about. But on May 17, 1990, it was off the list. And now ICD-10 proudly says, “sexual orientation by itself is not to be considered a disorder.”
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Of course, this doesn't mean that the stigma of having a mental illness or being homosexual is washed away too. That's a long journey. But that doesn't mean that we can't celebrate both small and big wins that come our way, isn't it?
