GLR November-December 2022

Also at the 1972 APA meeting, Frank and I were given a booth in the exhibit hall. With much help from friends, I set up an eye-grabbing display under the heading “Gay, Proud, and Healthy: The Homosexual Community Speaks.” Frank wrote the flyer. This exhibit featured the word LOVE in big letters. I think it was the only place in the whole convention where that word LOVE appeared. But there were more eye-openers for the psy chiatrists. At theAPA’s dinner-dance at the conclusion of the con ference, Frank took as his date a gay activist from Dallas named Philip Johnson. And when the band struck up a waltz, Frank and Phil sailed out onto the dance floor. The other heterosexual dance couples all pretended they didn’t see what they saw! Meanwhile, behind the scenes in APAmeetings, the wheels were already turning to consider taking homosexuality off of the list of mental disorders as part of a general revision of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual . When the Board of Trustees endorsed the recommendation to de-list homosexuality in De cember 1973, a major Philadelphia newspaper headlined the story: “Homosexuals Gain ‘Instant Cure.’” The trustees also passed a civil rights resolution opposing laws and official dis crimination against gay people, which read as follows: Whereas homosexuality in and of itself implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or vocational capabilities, therefore, be it resolved that the American Psychiatric Associ ation deplores all public and private discrimination against ho mosexuals in such areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, and licensing, and declares that no burden of proof of such judgment, capacity, or reliability shall be

placed on homosexuals greater than that imposed on any other persons. Further, the APA supports and urges the enactment of civil rights legislation at local, state, and federal levels that would insure homosexual citizens the same protections now guaranteed to others. Further, the APA supports and urges the repeal of all legislation making criminal offenses of sexual acts performed by consenting adults in private. Of course, a stroke of the pen doesn’t change attitudes. Objec tions to the “official cure” were contested by psychiatrists who petitioned for a referendum of the full APAmembership, which voted in 1974 to endorse the APA board’s decision to de-list. Mindful of the need for continuing education, the APA gave the National Gay Task Force exhibit space at several later conven tions. In 1976, in Miami, we did one called “Homophobia: Time for a Cure,” with displays of materials illustrating anti-gay atti tudes, policies, and practices. Part of our prescription to cure homophobia included photos of gay couples. Surprisingly, they drew a strong reaction. One dubious doctor asked: “Do these relationships really work?” Many psychiatrists were used to thinking of us as miserable patients with troubled lives, and they needed to see some reality. At this time, gay psychiatrists were coming out of the closet, and had launched a Gay Caucus within the APA, whose newsletter was on hand. Its members helped staff the booth and talked to colleagues. My last APA exhibit, “Gay Love: Good Medicine,” was in Atlanta in 1978. Again we featured gay people not as patients but as living happy and healthy lives. This time I was able to get five gay psychiatrists who were willing to be in the exhibit with their photos and credentials—quite a breakthrough. The Gay Caucus in APAwas now taking steps to become an official sub group. Still, the closet was emptying only slowly. One psychi atrist wrote a piece on “The Invisible Gay Psychiatrist” for distribution at that 1978 conference. He urged those who could n’t come out to take other specific steps to push things along. By 1979, the Gay Caucus went fully public by taking part in the gay community’s first National March on Washington. I am thankful to the American Psychiatric Association and to the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists for recog nizing my and Frank Kameny’s work toward healing the wounds of prejudice and discrimination. I’m sure John Fryer would be thrilled and deeply gratified, as I am, for having an APA award presented in his name and for the first one going to Frank and myself. By drawing attention to the mask and the damage it does, Dr. H. Anonymous helped tear away disguise and secrecy. He gave courage to his fellow gay and lesbian psy chiatrists to be fully themselves and to affirm, in Frank’s great motto, that “Gay Is Good.” The gay community’s mental health improved dramatically when we spoke up for ourselves and took charge of our own destiny. I’m so glad I was a player in this part of gay history and that I got to know the incomparable John Fryer. R EFERENCES Bayer, Ronald. Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis . Basic Books, 1981. Hooker, Evelyn. “The adjustment of the male overt homosexual.” Pro jective Techniques , 21:18-31, 1957. Marmor, Judd, ed. Sexual Inversion: The Multiple Roots of Homo sexuality . Basic Books, 1965.

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