The field of psychology has extensively studied homosexuality as a human sexual orientation. The American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1952, but that classification came under scrutiny in research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. That research and subsequent studies consistently failed to produce any empirical or scientific basis for regarding homosexuality as anything other than a natural and normal sexual orientation that is a healthy and positive expression of human sexuality. As a result of this scientific research, the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973. Upon a thorough review of the scientific data, the American Psychological Association followed in 1975 and also called on all mental health professionals to take the lead in "removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated" with homosexuality. In 1993, the National Association of Social Workers adopted the same position as the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, in recognition of scientific evidence. The World Health Organization, which listed homosexuality in the ICD-9 in 1977, removed homosexuality from the ICD-10 which was endorsed by the 43rd World Health Assembly on 17 May 1990.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) personnel are able to serve in the armed forces of some countries around the world: the vast majority of industrialized, Western countries including some South American countries such as Argentina and Chile in addition to South Africa, and Israel. The rights concerning intersex people are more vague.
Richard A. Isay was an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, author and gay activist. He was a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and a faculty member of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. Isay is considered a pioneer who changed the way that psychoanalysts view homosexuality.
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality (GLMA) is an international organization of approximately 1,000 LGBT healthcare professionals and students of all disciplines. Its members include physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, nurses, behavioral health specialists, researchers and academician, and their supporters in the United States and internationally.
Adolescent medicine also known as adolescent and young adult medicine is a medical subspecialty that focuses on care of patients who are in the adolescent period of development. This period begins at puberty and lasts until growth has stopped, at which time adulthood begins. Typically, patients in this age range will be in the last years of middle school up until college graduation. In developed nations, the psychosocial period of adolescence is extended both by an earlier start, as the onset of puberty begins earlier, and a later end, as patients require more years of education or training before they reach economic independence from their parents.
Touro University Rainbow Health Coalition (RHC) is a group of students, faculty, and staff who promote health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people at Touro University California. The group was formally recognized by the Student Government of Touro in September 2002 as the Touro University Gay-Straight Alliance (TUGSA) and has been a University sanctioned club since that time, with the exception of 4 days in September of 2006. In 2012, the organization changed its name to the Rainbow Health Coalition. The new name was chosen to better convey the group's focus.
LGBT parenting refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people raising one or more children as parents or foster care parents. This includes: children raised by same-sex couples, children raised by single LGBT parents, and children raised by an opposite-sex couple where at least one partner is LGBT.
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal based published by Duke University Press. It was co-founded by David M. Halperin and Carolyn Dinshaw in the early 1990s. In its mission, the journal seeks "to offer queer perspectives on all issues touching on sex and sexuality." It covers religion, science studies, politics, law, and literary studies.
The Association of LGBTQ Psychiatrists, originally the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (AGLP), is an organization that educates and advocates on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) mental health issues.
The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) is a pedophilia and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States. It works to abolish age-of-consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors and campaigns for the release of men who have been jailed for sexual contacts with minors that did not involve what it considers coercion.
Jack Drescher is an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst known for his work on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Timeline of events related to sexual orientation and medicine
A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. Same-sex marriage refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries where same-sex marriage does not.
Various topics in medicine relate to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. According to the US Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), besides HIV/AIDS, issues related to LGBT health include breast and cervical cancer, hepatitis, mental health, substance use disorders, alcohol use, tobacco use, depression, access to care for transgender persons, issues surrounding marriage and family recognition, conversion therapy, refusal clause legislation, and laws that are intended to "immunize health care professionals from liability for discriminating against persons of whom they disapprove."
The Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Routledge. It is the official journal for AGLP, the Association of LGBTQ+ Psychiatrists. The editor-in-chief is Chris Mcintosh. Former editors include Philip Bialer, Mary E. Barber, Alan Schwartz, and Jack Drescher. The journal was established in 1988 as the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, before obtaining its current title in 2007. It covers LGBT mental health with a focus on clinical issues. The journal is abstracted and indexed in: PsycINFO, LGBT Life, SOCIndex, Academic Search Premier, Family Index Abstracts, Studies in Women & Gender Abstracts, and Gender Watch-Softline.
The Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality is a student-edited law review published by Tulane University Law School, and is the official law journal for the National LGBT Bar Association. It was the first law journal to solely discuss legal issues concerning the LGBTQ+ community in the United States, and continues to publish the winning article of the annual Michael Greenberg Writing Competition. The journal has published works involving constitutional, employment, family, healthcare, insurance and military law among other topics intersecting with sexuality.
The United States military formerly excluded gay men, bisexuals, and lesbians from service. In 1993, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, a law instituting the policy commonly referred to as "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT), which allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve as long as they did not reveal their sexual orientation. Although there were isolated instances in which service personnel were met with limited success through lawsuits, efforts to end the ban on openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people serving either legislatively or through the courts initially proved unsuccessful.
The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) journalism history.
