Stay up for one more post - I'm going to educate you about the APA. and then YOU will be "informed" >>>
First published in 1968,
DSM-II (the second edition of the American classiifcation of mental disorders) listed homosexuality as a mental disorder. In this, the DSM followed in a long tradition in medicine and psychiatry, which in the 19th century appropriated homosexuality from the Church and, in an élan of enlightenment, promoted it from sin to mental disorder.
In 1973, the American
Psychiatric Association (APA) asked all members attending its convention to vote on whether they believed homosexuality to be a mental disorder. 5,854 psychiatrists voted to remove homosexuality from the DSM, and 3,810 to retain it.
But there's much more to it than just that.
Instead of simply doing things democratically and properly, the APA pretty much caved in to threats and intimidation from radical homosexual activists.
Here’s what actually happened, according to the August 23, 1971 edition of Newsweek (cited
here),
And that was just the beginning according to author Ryan Sorba. Citing pages 130-131 of
The Gay Crusaders, a history of the homosexual movement authored by homosexual activists Kay Tobin and Randy Wicker, Sorba
writes,
Following these threats the APA’s Board of Trustees decided to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders.
It is interesting that
the three great pioneers of psychiatry – Freud, Jung and Adler – all saw homosexuality as disordered. And, while it is true that by the 1970s many psychiatrists had a different opinion, it was not science that ultimately settled the question; it was threats and intimidation.
Second, it was impossible that any truly impartial review of the literature could have missed the elevated levels of alcoholism, drug dependency, depression and suicide among homosexuals. It was simply preposterous for psychiatrists to claim that these either did not exist, or that they did exist but were not symptomatic of some kind of deeper disorder.
Third, the reference completely minimizes the intensity of the multi-year attack against psychiatry that was being waged by homosexual activists. Read the history of these attacks, beginning here (link below), and running for a total of 5 pages: Psychiatrists were being branded as “war criminals” and “the enemy incarnate” – and that was just the polite talk. These were a people
under siege and they all knew it.
Fourth, the vote, when it finally did come, was 5,854 to 3,810 in favor of removing homosexuality from the list of disorders. What was not mentioned was that 17,905 members of the APA were eligible to vote and that 8,241 of them chose not to cast a ballot. In other words, the yeas represented
less than a third (32.7%) of the APA membership. Obviously, the 8,241 (almost half the entire membership abstaining under pressure, were no votes, which is why they abstained).
Fifth, as the above reference mentions, the vote was partially controlled by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGTLF). The NGTLF was able to obtain APA member addresses and, without identifying itself as an organization, send out letters to all members urging them to vote to remove homosexuality from the list of disorders. Bruce Voeller, the head of the NGTLF admits,
“Our costly letter has perhaps made the difference.”
https://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/08a/born_gay_hoax/TheBornGayHoax.pdf#page=20
Eight psychiatrists are called for a new referendum by the American Psychiatric Association on homosexuality, to
invalidate an earlier vote they contend was improperly influenced by a letter signed by top association leaders but conceived and paid for by the National Task Force.
The letter urged upholding a decision of the board of trustees to stop listing “homosexuality per se” as a mental illness. The eventual vote last month was 5,854 in favor to 3,810, out of 17,910 eligible voters. The trustees’ action and the vote upholding it have been hailed by homosexual groups as significant recognition of an Individual's right to select his sexual life‐style.
‘Knowledge Sacrificed’
The leader of the group of eight psychiatrists, Dr. Charles W, Socarides, clinical associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, contended in an interview last week that deleting homosexuality from mental illness listings
“sacrificed our scientific knowledge.” He said it was like the Soviet distortion of genetics for political purposes during the Stalin era.
The Gay Task Force, formed last October to “work for liberation of gay people and change in public attitudes,” acknowledges that it raised $3,000 to print and mail the letter signed by the three candidates for president of the association and two incumbent vice presidents.
Ronald Gold, public relations director for the Gay Task Force, also confirmed that the task force had suggested contributions be sent through St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Harlem, a task force sponsor, as a way to get tax deductibility.
He declared that similar letters for various causes went out daily “from famous people” without the actual drafters being identified.
Dr. Socarides argued that the leaders’ letter “should have said it was sponsored by the Gay Task Force—otherwise it was a totally deceptive and misleading document.” He held it probably had influenced some members in “a dishonest vote which does not fairly re fleet the true opinions of majority of psychiatrists.”
In Los Angeles, Dr. Judd Marmor, who has since won the election and is presidentelect, said he and the four other signers had agreed on the letter as upholding the trustees and also representing their views.
Dr. Marmor, who is chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of Southern California, said “we think it would have been more correct” for the Gay Task Force to identify itself as the mailer. The task force, he said “paid for it—we were in no position to do so.”
In an exchange of letters on the controversy to be published in a June issue of the association's newsletter, Dr. Marmor said, “We agree, however, that some guidelines ought to be established to prevent such misunderstanding in the future.” He disclosed that a special group had been set up to report on referendum guidelines.
The dissidents originally asked the association on March 21 for an investigation of the Gay Task Force role, and on May 13 formally petitioned to have the entire voting membership notified about “this impropriety” and be given new referendum “as soon as possible.”
The APA then compromised, removing homosexuality from the DSM but replacing it, in effect, with
"sexual orientation disturbance" for people
"in conflict with" their
sexual orientation. Not until 1987 did homosexuality completely fall out of the DSM.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) only removed homosexuality from its ICD classification with the publication of ICD-10 in 1992, although ICD-10 still carries the construct of
"ego-dystonic sexual orientation". In this condition, the person is not in doubt about his or her sexual preference, but
"wishes it were different because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders".
Not until 1987 did homosexuality completely fall out of the DSM.
www.psychologytoday.com