Homosexuality and Psychoanalysis I: Historical Perspectives

ABSTRACT

On May 1, 2004, the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists (AGLP), with co-sponsorship from St. Luke's–Roosevelt Medical Center, The Haworth Press, and the William Alanson White Institute, organized an all-day conference in New York City entitled “Homosexuality and Psychoanalysis: New Directions.” The proceedings of the first panel focused on Historical Perspectives.

The first contributor is Kenneth Lewes, PhD, who discusses the history of the psychoanalytic theory of homosexuality. Lewes reflects on what history says about the psychoanalytic endeavor and our present situation as analysts and as people who are homosexual. He notes that although there is a great deal to celebrate in the dissolution of old prejudices, which represent a dark stain on psychoanalytic history, we still have not understood how such a lapse could have occurred and that until we do, there is a real chance of its recurrence.

Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, PhD, begins with some autobiographical remarks about the processes involved in her admission and training as a psychoanalyst. She offers this personal history as part of her generally optimistic assessment of the way psychoanalysts within the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) have shifted on the topic of homosexuals and homosexuality in training institutes. In her estimation, the battle within psychoanalysis as a field for training gay people has been won, and attention now needs to turn to the more subtle manifestations of homophobia. She sees the need for a psychoanalytically informed theory of homophobia and outlines her psychoanalytic theory of homophobias.

Ralph Roughton, MD, discusses the process of converting homophobic psychoanalysts and their organizations to gay-friendly. He recounts the history of efforts to change attitudes toward homosexuality within both the APsaA and the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA). He notes that adopting a nondiscrimination policy is necessary to enforce fairness and justice, but it is not sufficient to change minds and hearts and to bring acceptance. Both the APsaA and the IPA now have such policies; but only the APsaA has really accepted openly gay and lesbian psychoanalysts.

In a joint presentation, Maggie Magee, MSW, PsyD, and Diana C. Miller, MD, note, “It helps to have a sense of history and a sense of humor if one is lesbian, feminist, and a psychoanalyst.” They note that dissociation flourishes when histories, whether institutional or personal, have been marked by trauma. They believe everyone who has been part of the history of psychoanalysis and homosexuality has to fight against such defenses. By remembering together, analysts can diminish their collective and individual dissociations. Toward that end, Magee and Miller present their personal experiences as lesbian mental health professionals seeking analytic training. They then go on to chronicle the gradual emergence, primarily in institutes and organizations that were not affiliated with the APsaA or the IPA, of gay and lesbian analysts in the 1980s and 1990s.

KEYWORDS:

• American Psychoanalytic Association
• bisexuality
• closet
• discrimination
• gay
• heterosexism
• history
• homophobia
• homosexuality
• International Psychoanalytic Association
• lesbian
• prejudice
• psychoanalysis
• stereotype
• training

Notes

1. American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association.

2. Bowers v. Hardwick, (1986) 487 U.S. 186.

3. I use this now quaint term with a touch of irony to convey the attitude that would have greeted an openly gay psychoanalyst in that pre-1990 era. Older readers will recognize the common journalistic reference to “known homosexuals,” when being “known” was no longer necessarily a scandal but neither was it a simple statement of fact.

4. See Merlino (2001) for a biographical sketch of Bertram H. Schaffner, MD.

5. Now known as the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry.