Nontraditional Concepts Of Homosexuality

Throughout history, there have been accounts of people being persecuted for many reasons; race, religion, political affiliations, and sexual orientation. In the United States, and many other nations across the globe, there have been hundreds of thousands of people victimized for being homosexual. Due to differing standpoints, homosexuality is seen as “immoral” or “sinful” or even “disgusting”. Up until 1973, homosexuality was also referred to as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. People could be openly criticized, mocked, and often killed for simply being gay. Because of these social and religious criticisms, many people have been forced to partake in “conversion” or “reparative” therapies in order to become

An individual’s sexuality should not define who they are as a person. What is Conversion Therapy? Sexual Orientation Conversion Therapy has a range of treatments that are designed in hopes to turn a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual. Conversion therapy is also used in attempts to convert a transgender person’s gender expression to match with the gender given at birth. It is currently banned for minors in 5 states (California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, and Illinois) and the other 45 states have no law against it. Many teens in this current time period are coming out as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer. Homosexuality is often seen as a negative effect towards society.

Following the declassification of homosexuality as a disease in 1973, a variety of methods have been made in attempts to help members of the LGBT community become

The topic of sexual orientation is both sensitive and controversial. This is evident in events, such as the Pride Parade, and also in media, where authoritative figures preach against it and speak of its “sinful nature” (Emmanuele, Blanchard, Camperio-Ciani, & Bancroft, 2010). Sexual orientation exists in various forms, it differs in the way it is viewed by different cultures, and researchers propose different perspectives to explain the emergence of an individual 's sexual orientation. In the discourse of sexual orientation,

Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, or Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE) has a troubled history within the United States and abroad. Conversion therapy is the use of a variety of means to attempt to change an individual’s sexual or gender orientation. Current practices include inducing vomiting or paralysis while showing a subject homoerotic images, having a subject snap a rubber band on their wrist whenever they have certain thoughts, or using tactics to create shame or aversion to same sex or transgender thoughts. Many established institutes claim that the therapy does or doesn't work and offer contradicting evidence for their position. The Movement Advancement Project, a group dedicated to providing research for the advancement of LGBT people, states in an infographic that nine states, plus the District of Columbia and a handful of municipalities have banned conversion therapy from being provided by licensed medical professionals to minors (“Kids” 1). Based on the established evidence and the overwhelming number of psychologists and sociologist that disavow conversion therapy, along with the multitude of horror stories from children who were persuaded, or forced, to participate by their parents, the federal government should ban conversion therapy for all minors.

It is interesting to note that according to the American Psychiatric Association, up until 1974 homosexuality was considered a mental illness. There was no scientific breakthrough or any new information that would allow for this change of status. Simply, “The APA claimed that they made the change because new research showed that most homosexual people were content with their sexual orientation, and that as a group, they appeared to be as well-adjusted as heterosexual people”. The decision to remove homosexually as a mental illness was done by trustee, and the decision was confirmed by a vote. I do not believe that homosexually is a mental illness, however, homosexually was never validated or invalidated by science, so I am surprised to learn that it was even considered a mental

·         Since 1973, how does the American Psychiatric Association view homosexuality? (Page 221) A normal variant of sexual orientation

First, we have to take a quick step into the history of LGBT and we as a society have to recognize that we use to consider people to have a mental disorder if they were homosexual. It wasn’t until American Psychologist Evelyn Hooker and her series that showed that there was no evidence to support the statement that homosexuality is a mental illness. Although she started her test all on her own, in 1954, she would apply for a grant from the NIHM (National Institute of Mental

Once I have become aware of and accepted my morals, next I need to identify if they are coming into play with this client in a negative way. If my morals are coming into play there are several ways this impact the therapy I am doing with this client. The ways in which impact can occur is through building rapport, maintaining a therapeutic alliance, through my approach including treatment planning and goals, through transference or countertransference, and by limiting my ability to help this client with their issue. Before 1973 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders viewed homosexuality as a psychological disorder. This resulted in treatment plans that involved reorienting the individual to be heterosexual (Fontaine & Hammond, 1996). Although this practice is no longer common and has been debunked many times a metaphorical wedge between

Homosexuality is defined or characterized as attraction towards the same gender either male or female. It came from the Greek language, where “homo” means the same or similar, hence referring to the attraction between two beings of the same sex. Homosexuality is also referred as a clinical term. Most male homosexuals generally prefer to be called "gay men" and most homosexual women generally prefer to be called "lesbians." Homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation, alongside bisexual and heterosexual. The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality is an example of normal and positive variation in human sexual

Throughout history there has been much controversy surrounding the topic of human beings sexual orientation. Whether it they are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, people like what they like. In some cases, many people believe that they are born with certain urges that attract them to either the same or maybe even the opposite sex. The number one question that has been asked in today’s society is that if using reparative therapy is okay. Although many people believe in using this therapy, they should steer away from practicing it because it is unethical, there is no proven cure, and it often leads to an

California adopted a law in 2012 prohibiting licensed therapists from offering sessions that are intended to change the sexual orientation of clients under the age of 18. The law was challenged initially on the basis that it violated rights to free speech, but that argument was rejected by a federal appeals court.

Beginning in the 1950s, conversion and reparative therapy began. As stated in the book Hear Us Out by Nancy Garden "... in addition to supposedly being morally evil, homosexuality was widely believed to be an illness. To "cure" them, gays and lesbians were sometimes subjected to painful electroshock treatments or to aversion therapy. ... You may have heard of the modern-day version of 'curing' homosexuality - 'reparative therapy,' which is practiced by

Homosexuality is a heavily debated topic nowadays. They are a lot of mix sentiments when it comes to this topic. Some people believe that homosexuality is based on

The world has come very far with all the dramatic changes we have faced over the years. Wouldn’t you agree? As much change as the world has been through there are still numerous social problems that still exist in society today. Amongst those numerous social problems, sexual orientation and inequality stand out to me. Research from biology, psychology, and sociology is where our understanding of sexual orientation comes from. There are two hypothetical theories researchers have discovered examining the biological basis toward sexual orientation. One concept is the neurohormonal theory, biologist contend that homosexuality is caused by abnormal sex hormone levels in utero. The alternative theory is based on behavioral genetics, determining the source and magnitude of genetic impact on sexual orientation. This theory suggested the concept that gay men were genetically female. Later this theory was proven to be false. Homosexuality was considered as a pathology or mental illness. Not every psychologists agreed with that perspective. A researcher by the name of Havelock Ellis stated that homosexuality was congenital and for that reason it could not be considered as a disease. Sigmund Freud another theorist had the concept that everyone is born bisexual and that either homosexuality or heterosexuality is developed through social and personal experience. Ellis and Freud both concurred that homosexuality was not a mental illness. Despite these researchers’ opinions in 1973,