Fifty years ago this week, the American Psychiatric Association dropped “homosexuality” from its list of mental disorders. The historic event was lauded as a key advancement for the cause of LGBTQ+ equality. Before December 1973, the APA had classified homosexuality as a mental illness. But in 1964, gay men and lesbians began to openly protest that stigmatizing label. Barbara Gittings and Kay Lahusen were lesbian activists who emphatically opposed the label. They lived together in Philadelphia and managed to convince another Philadelphian, gay psychiatrist, Dr. John E. Fryer, to address an APA annual convention in May 1972 in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Fryer addressed the assembled psychiatrists wearing a mask and with his voice distorted. But he delivered a moving plea for the APA’s removal of the stigmatizing mental illness label. Nineteen months later, on Dec. 15, 1973, the APA’s board of trustees agreed to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental illness. The decision was upheld in April 1974 through a referendum, with about 10,000 psychiatrists voting. The board also adopted a resolution deploring discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the fields of housing, employment, and licensing. The APA’s actions made front-page news the next day in the venerable New York Times. Gay men and lesbians across the country felt a significant morale boost. Public opinion regarding them also improved.
2024 Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade Live Broadcast
June 19, 2024
