What was it like to be gay in the 1960s?

In the 1960s, homosexuality was a crime – and a mental illness. Gays desperate for a cure tried, or were forced into, aversion therapy. Some believe the after-effects ruined their lives; one did not survive

What did doctors say about gay in 1963?

In 1963, doctors reported a “successful adaptation from homosexuality to bisexuality” in the case of a patient who was made to stand in a 9ft square room with an electrical grid on the floor; he was shown slides of a naked man while current was passed through the floor to his bare feet.

When was mental illness classified as a mental illness?

In 1952 when the American Psychiatric association classified it as a mental illness, the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as other studies that followed, consistently FAILED to produce ANY empirical or scientific basis of mental disorder. It wasn’t politics that declassified it. It was the SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

What did Sigmund Freud think about gay people?

Sigmund Freud believed: 1 homosexuality was a mental disorder. 2 homosexual patients should receive treatment to change to heterosexual. 3 homosexuality was not something of which one should be ashamed. 4 homosexuality was a mature form of sexuality.

When did the gay rights movement begin in the US?

These activities continued in 1970 with the following predominant events: As described by Ronald Bayer, a psychiatrist and gay rights activist, specific protests by gay rights activists against the APA began in 1970, when the organization held its convention in San Francisco.

In 1952 when the American Psychiatric association classified it as a mental illness, the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as other studies that followed, consistently FAILED to produce ANY empirical or scientific basis of mental disorder. It wasn’t politics that declassified it. It was the SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

When did the LGBT community start to change?

This major change had been preceded by increasing activities of the LGBT community in the 1960s, specifically the Stonewall riots in 1969. These activities continued in 1970 with the following predominant events:

Who was the most controversial figure in the history of Psychiatry?

Because Szasz did not limit his argument to homosexuality (he asserted that mental illness in general is merely a metaphor)—and because he remains perhaps the most controversial figure in the history of psychiatry—his position on homosexuality is often ignored.