Show and Tell

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am thankful to the American Psychiatric Association and to the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists for recognizing 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 psychiatrists 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.

Barbara Gittings (1932-2007) was a prominent American gay rights activist who organized the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis. She was a leader in the successful movement to get the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness, which it did in 1973.

This paper was delivered upon Barbara Gitting's accepting the American Psychiatric Association's first John E. Fryer, MD Award. The Award is for a public figure who has made significant contributions to LGBT mental health and was given to both Barbara Gittings and Frank Kameny on October 7, 2006, in New York City at APA's 58th Institute on Psychiatric Services.

Notes

¹ Bieber, I., Dain, H.J., Dince, P.R., Drellich, M.G., Grand, H.G., Gundlach, R.H., Kremer, M.W., Rifkin, A.H., Wilbur, C.B. & Bieber T.B. (1962), Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study New York: Basic Books.

² Hooker, E.A. (1957), The adjustment of the male overt homosexual. J. Projective Techniques, 21:18–31.

³ Marmor, J., ed. (1965), Sexual Inversion: The Multiple Roots of Homosexuality. New York: Basic Books. Also see Rosario, V.A. (2003), An interview with Judd Marmor, MD. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 7(4):23–34.

⁴ Bayer, R. (1981), Homosexuality and American Psychiatry: The Politics of Diagnosis. New York: Basic Books.

⁵ Scasta, D.L. (2002), John E. Fryer, MD, and the Dr. H. Anonymous episode. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 6(4):73–84.

⁶ See Drescher, J. (2003), An interview with Robert L. Spitzer, MD. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 7(3):97–111; Sbordone, A.J. (2003), An interview with Charles Silverstein, PhD. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 7(4):49–61; and Hire, R.O. (2002), An interview with Robert Jean Campbell III, MD. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 6(3): 81–96.

⁷ Whereas homosexuality in and of itself implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or vocational capabilities, therefore, be it resolved that the American Psychiatric Association deplores all public and private discrimination against homosexuals 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. Retrieved from http://www.psych.org/edu/other_res/lib_archives/archives/197310.pdf#search=%2homosexuality%22

⁸ See Hire, R.O. (2001), An interview with Frank Rundle, M.D. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 5(2):83–97; Ashley, K. (2002), An interview with Stuart E. Nichols, Jr., MD. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 6(4):55–71; Barber, M.E. (2003), An Interview with Nanette Gartrell, MD. J. Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 7(4):35–47; and Barber, M.E. (2008, in this issue), An Interview with David E. Kessler, MD. J. Gay & Lesbian Mental Health.