How transgenderism is viewed around the world: From the country that celebrates trans people to where they are deemed ‘mentally ill’
In many western nations, transgenderism is fast becoming an accepted feature of modern society.
There has been a sharp increase in people identifying as transgender in recent years in the US, with the transgender population rising three percent between 2017 and 2020.
Despite this, critics continue to question the legitimacy of gender dysphoria – not identifying with the gender assigned at birth – with former President Donald Trump deeming it ‘left-wing gender insanity.’
Some countries around the world feel the same, with leaders speaking out against trans rights and punishing those identifying as trans.
Just earlier this month, Peru made headlines after it moved to classify trans people as mentally ill. Meanwhile, in the United Arab Emirates, they are imprisoned.
But in other nations, trans people are accepted and even extolled.
Here, DailyMail.com reveals the vastly different ways transgenderism is celebrated or denigrated around the world.
Peru made headlines earlier this month after it moved to classify trans people as mentally ill despite backlash
Members of the LGBTQ+ community protest against a decree following a decision by the Ministry of Health classifying transgender people as mentally ill, in Lima, Peru
The South American nation where government deemed being transgender a mental illness
Under the decree signed by President Dina Boluarte, ‘transsexualism, dual-role transvestism, gender identity disorder in childhood, other gender identity disorders and fetishistic transvestism’ are now all recorded as mental illnesses.
Peru’s government argues the decree will make ‘psychological treatment’ freely available to those identifying as trans or struggling with gender dysphoria.
But trans rights groups warned the classification of trans and intersex people as mentally ill could open the door to discrimination and conversion therapy – the practices of therapies seeking to change youth’s sexual or gender identities – which is currently banned in Peru.
Gay marriage and same-sex civil unions are still illegal in Peru and transgender identity is not legally recognized.
There is also no legislation recognizing hate crimes against this population and transgender Peruvians say they face humiliation and violence.
Tamara, a transgender woman from Lima, Peru, has struggled with her identity since elementary school, where she was bullied and teased so much she dropped out, according to UNAIDS.
At 18, there were little options available to her, and she began working as a sex worker on the streets. She died shortly after her 30th birthday from an AIDS-related illness and tuberculosis.
A 2021 study by a human rights group in Peru found among 323 LGBTQ+ individuals, 83 percent said they had faced verbal or physical abuse, and three quarters said they had been subject to discrimination.
In Thailand, transgender women are often referred to as kathoey, also known as ladyboys
Mimi Tao, a transgender Thai fashion model, struts during New York Fashion Week in 2017
Thousands of transgender women proudly exempted themselves from military service in Thailand in April 2021, after being forced to attend conscription events for the nation’s army despite not identifying as men
The Southeast Asian country where people with gender dysphoria are celebrated
In Thailand, transgenderism is widely accepted and trans women are often referred to as kathoey, also known as ladyboys.
The term was originally used to refer to intersex people, but now also encompasses gay men and transgender women.
There are an estimated 314,808 trans people living in Thailand, according to the Asia Pacific Transgender Network.
They are more visible and accepted in Thai culture than in other countries in the world, and multiple popular Thai models, singers and actors are transgender.
But some social stigma remains. Parents, particularly fathers, may be disappointed to find out their child is transgender, and a third category of gender has not been legally recognized.
Cities such as Bangkok have become destinations for gender-affirming operations, partly due to cheap prices.
Thai ‘ladyboys’ wait for customers outside a bar in the red light district in Pattaya, Thailand
In India, transgender people fall under the recognized ‘third’ gender known as ‘hijras.’ English actor Stephen Fry is pictured posing with hijras in India
The South Asian nation where being trans is a third gender
In India, transgender people fall under an official recognized ‘third’ gender known as ‘hijras.’
There are roughly half a million transgender people living in India, as per the last census in India in 2011.
Before then, the number of transgender people was not counted and they faced social ostracization and legal inequality.
Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh have also all legally accepted the existence of a third gender.
In 2019, Indian transgender people were guaranteed the right to self-identify their gender, as well as have access to education, employment and healthcare.
In some Indian states, such as southern Kerala, people can now get a sex change at a government hospital.
People hold up signs reading ‘no ban without trans’ during a protest in London in April 2022, over transgender people not being included in plans to ban conversion therapy
Trans rights activists attend a protest opposite Downing Street in January 2023 in London, United Kingdom
Transgender boxer Danny Baker (center) spoke with protesters as he took part in the Trans Pride parade in London, UK, in July 2023
The Middle East country where being transgender is a crime
The Middle East is particularly unwelcoming to transgender people.
Homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and sex-reassignment surgery is incredibly restricted to only very limited circumstances that are highly regulated by the state.
In 2022, Kuwait’s Constitutional Court overturned a law that criminalized ‘imitating the opposite sex.’
The court had previously rejected gender recognition applications filed by transgender people because it believed sex changes to be the work of the devil and against Islamic and Kuwaiti values.
In December 2013, two transgender Brazilian women were arrested in Dubai for ‘imitating women’ and were reportedly detained for two days.
They were held until March 2014, fined close to $3,000 and ordered to be deported.
Dylan Mulvaney attends The Cut’s NYFW Finale in New York City
The nation where trans youth are under scrutiny
On the whole, transgender people are accepted in the UK.
Gender reassignment is protected under the Equality Act 2010, which prohibits discrimination and harassment across employment, educations and public services.
Growing acceptance has led to an explosion of gender-questioning youth in the UK over the past few years, with girls accounting for an increasing proportion of the total.
More than 5,000 referrals were made to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in 2021 and 2022, compared to just a few hundred a decade earlier.
The data formed part of the bombshell Cass review published in April 2024, which ruled that staples of government-funded treatment of trans youth – like doling out puberty blockers and sex hormones – were built on ‘shaky foundations.’
Since the late 2010s, the treatment of trans people in the UK has been a rising source of controversy, and a poll by YouGov noted an ‘overall erosion in support towards transgender rights’ among the general public by the early 2020s.
The country divided on trans rights and trans care
America’s attitude to transgender people is very fractured along political party lines, with at least 21 states passing restrictions on the rights of transgender people.
These include making it illegal for a doctor give gender-affirming care to people under 18 years old and restricting the ability of transgender student athletes to play on sports teams matching their gender identity.
Kansas enacted a law last year that ended legal recognition of trans identities, meaning people cannot change the sex on their birth certificates or passports.
Liberal states such as California, New York and Illinois, meanwhile, have declared themselves sanctuaries for transgender health care, allowing children under 18 to be able to access gender-affirming medical care such as hormone blockers and surgery, so long as they have parental consent.
According to a 2022 survey by the Pew Center, 60 percent of Americans said a person’s gender is determined by their sex assigned at birth.
And 2018 research by Ipsos found among western countries, people in the US were the most likely to believe transgender people have a mental illness, with 32 percent of survey respondents indicating so.
The US was also the most likely out of 16 countries surveyed to believe transgendered people are committing a sin, with 32 percent admitting this in the survey.
A demonstrator protests demanding a law to protect the rights of the transgender community outside of the parliament Bundestag building in Berlin
German lawmakers recently approved legislation that will make it easier for transgender people to change their name and gender in official records
The European country where it’s now easy for transgender people to change their name
Germany is one nation that is slowly opening its arms to transgender individuals.
German lawmakers recently approved legislation that will make it easier for transgender people to change their name and gender in official records, set to take effect in November.
The existing ‘transsexual law,’ which dates back four decades, requires individuals who want to change gender on official documents to first have assessments from two experts ‘sufficiently familiar with the particular problems of transsexualism,’ and then have their case approved by a court.
The new rules will also allow children 14 years and older to change their name and legal gender with approval from their parents or guardians.
If their parents don’t agree, teenagers could ask a family court to overrule them.
In Germany, under-18s can only access gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers or surgery as part of controlled scientific studies.
But conservatives opposed the name-change move, saying the legislation has a lack of safeguards against abuse and a lack of protection for young people.
Conservative lawmaker Susanne Hierl complained the government ‘want[s] to satisfy a loud but very small group and, in doing so, is dividing society.’
Other European countries already have similar legislation, including Denmark, Norway, Finland and Spain.
Gay rights activists hold a banner reading ‘Homophobia – the religion of bullies’ during a protest in Moscow, Russia in July 2013
The country growing increasingly hostile to trans people
In July 2023, Russian lawmakers approved a stricter version of a bill that outlaws gender-transitioning procedures.
The bill contains added clauses that annul marriages in which one person has ‘changed gender’ and also bars transgender people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.
The legislation bans any ‘medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,’ as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records.
The bill is a crippling blow to Russia’s oppressed LGBTQ+ community. The country’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people began a decade ago, when President Vladimir Putin first proclaimed a focus on ‘traditional family values,’ a move fiercely supported – and fueled – by the Russian Orthodox Church.
In December 2022, ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations’ among adults was banned, meaning any positive or even neutral representation of LGBTQ+ people in movies, literature or media was outlawed.
Existing Russian regulations view gender transitioning procedures as medical treatment for ‘transsexualism,’ a psychiatric condition in accordance with the 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, a medical classification list by the World Health Organization that Russia follows.
This means banning gender-transitioning procedures for these people is depriving those diagnosed with ‘transsexualism’ of medical help, which is in violation of the constitution and other Russian laws, according to critics.
