When was homosexuality classified as a psychological disorder

He is not interested in or capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. The pick-up, the one night stand - these are characteristics of the homosexual relationship. Film-maker Patrick Sammon describes the programme as "landmark" - but not in a good way.

If you are affected by issues raised in this article, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line. If you or someone you know needs support with LGBT issues , these organisations may also be able to help. The documentary he has now made with Bennett Singer tells a story of prejudice within the American Psychiatric Association APA , a hugely influential part of the US medical establishment.

But the first half of the film uses interviews and archive film and TV to illustrate more generally the pressures of growing up gay in s and 60s America. In the APA's manual had defined being gay as a "sociopathic personality disturbance".

It gave a supposedly scientific rationale to prejudices already widespread in the US and elsewhere. Gay sex was illegal in England and Wales until ; Scotland followed in and Northern Ireland in Singer says the post-World War Two period appears in retrospect especially homophobic in the US and elsewhere. Embedded in that was this sense of heterosexuality - that men should marry women and that women should have kids and be subservient.

This fitted the classic model of what a healthy society was. Co-director Sammon says part of the reason for making the film was to investigate how far psychiatry itself created or encouraged hostility to LGBT people. Certainly the APA classification in made the atmosphere more hostile.

Business and government used it as an excuse to discriminate against and to oppress LGBT people. Singer says it's also a matter of how the ruling damaged profoundly the picture LGBT people had of themselves and of whether they were valued in society. Sammon says one of the most telling bits of archive - showing attitudes tentatively shifting - is an edition of the David Susskind Show from 50 years ago.

In Susskind would have been considered a progressive, liberal and enlightened host. Can Mamata go national? Successful coalitions at the Centre have been usually headed by leaders with weak power bases.

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Forty-four years ago today, the American Psychiatric Association made history by issuing a resolution stating that homosexuality was not a mental illness or sickness. Forty-four years ago today, the American Psychiatric Association APA -- the largest psychiatric organization in the world -- made history by issuing a resolution stating that homosexuality was not a mental illness or sickness.

Despite significant steps forward, 31 states still lack clear, fully-inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, meaning that LGBTQ people are at risk of being fired, denied housing, and denied services for who they are or whom they love.

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