Homosexuality, as many people know, was considered a disease by the American Psychiatric Association until the early 1970s. The APA included homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in its first and second editions and was deleted from later editions. I found this nifty document from late 1973 – right before the deletion – on the APA’s website detailing the proposed change.
Anyway, thirty some years have now past. Psychiatrists and therapists don’t still think that being attracted to a person of the same sex is a ‘disease’ and can be cured, right?
Apparently, there still are some out there that do. A study published in the March issue of BMC Psychiatry claims that nearly one-sixth of health professionals in the UK admitted to offering to assist in the conversion to heterosexuality.
Read the news item from MSNBC:
Gay ‘cure’ still sought by some therapists
Link to the study:
The response of mental health professionals to clients seeking help to change or redirect same-sex sexual orientation, BMC Psychiatry
I was just in the UK last week – good thing I didn’t run into any therapists.
Thanks to Eric for the link!
