Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis

In 1973, after several years of bitter dispute, the Board of Trusteesof the American Psychiatric Association decided to remove homosexuality from its official list of mental diseases. Infuriated by theBoard's action, a substantial number of dissident psychiatristscharged the association's leadership with capitulating to the pressuresof Gay Liberation groups, and forced the board to submit its decisionto a referendum of the full APA membership. Ronald Bayer presentsa political analysis of the psychiatric battle involved, from the firstconfrontations organized by gay demonstrators at psychiatric conventions to the referendum initiated by orthodox psychiatrists. The result is a fascinating view of the individuals who led the debate and the fundamental questions that engaged them: social and cultural values, the definition of disease, and the nature of sexuality. Available for thefirst time in paperback, the book includes a new afterword by theauthor.