In a journal article about transgenderism* which I don't particularly recommend, I was nonetheless surprised to find this account of how the psychiatric establishment, over the course of a mere 30 years, swung from one extreme to another in its classifications regarding homosexuality:
The story of how disorders are first classified and reclassified within, and then eventually expunged from, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is telling. Homosexuality, for example, was included in the first edition of the DSM, published in 1952, as a sexual deviation classified under the rubric “Sociopathic Personality Disturbance.”2 In the second edition (DSM-II) published in 1968 it became a sexual deviation classified as a nonpsychotic mental disorder along with pedophilia and exhibitionism.3 It was then declassified as a disorder altogether when DSM-II was revised in 1973. The DSM-III, published in 1980, was such a strong reversal of position from its predecessor that it actually classified any homosexual who wanted to be heterosexual as having a psychosexual disorder called “ego-dystonic homosexuality.”4 This was then dropped when the DSM-III was revised in 1987 (DSM-III-R).5
Why was I reading about transgenderism? Because of this tweet yesterday, which told (to my mind) an improbable story:
As one person on Twitter said:
Homosexuality is a developmental disorder just like my attention deficit. You've got to fight it where you rightly can, and embrace it where you should. Not glorify it as an alternative lifestyle. Not use it to encourage the queer version of naughty boy behaviour.
ReplyDeleteIf a man feels a great need to express female qualities that used to be left up to the weekends. Maybe socially we need to find respectful space for such a disorder. The Thais might be closer than we are with dealing with this other gender dysphoria developmental disorder.
But what we cannot put up with is to mutilate people, and have the fantasy that you have changed their gender. Mutilation is just mutilation. Thats all its ever going to be.
The ground floor beginning of this enquiry must be to leave the mutilation idea off the table. Zero tolerance for genital mutilation. Anywhere on the planet.