Out of DSM: Depathologizing Homosexuality

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed the diagnosis of “homosexuality” from the second edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). This resulted after comparing competing theories, those that pathologized homosexuality and those that viewed it as normal. In an effor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBehavioral sciences Vol. 5; no. 4; pp. 565 - 575
Main Author Drescher, Jack
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI 04.12.2015
MDPI AG
Subjects
American Psychiatric Association (APA)
diagnosis
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)
gender beliefs
gender binaries
homosexuality
psychiatry
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)
homosexuality
gender beliefs
gender binaries
diagnosis
psychiatry
American Psychiatric Association (APA)
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Summary:In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed the diagnosis of “homosexuality” from the second edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). This resulted after comparing competing theories, those that pathologized homosexuality and those that viewed it as normal. In an effort to explain how that decision came about, this paper reviews some historical scientific theories and arguments that first led to the placement of homosexuality in DSM-I and DSM-II as well as alternative theories that eventually led to its removal from DSM III and subsequent editions of the manual. The paper concludes with a discussion of the sociocultural aftermath of that 1973 decision.
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ISSN:2076-328X
2076-328X
DOI:10.3390/bs5040565