81 Words: A Reflective Essay
“It’s uncanny when something so small, for a moment, for the length of time that it takes to sign a name, can carry the entire weight of history of a nation.” -- Ira Glass
In the two-hundred and fourth episode of This American Life, radio show host Ira Glass, and NPR journalist Alix Spiegel examine the history of the definition of homosexuality. A deeply provocative and personal narrative, Spiegel illustrates how words come to shape our understanding of oneself and the world we live in. When the definition of homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual was re-written in 1973, it forever changed the United States. To some the change was seen as a form of liberation, undermining years of oppression and stigmatism, while to others like Charles Socarides the change was viewed as a desecration to science and morality. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders overviews “every variant of paranoia” including homosexuality (until 1987). Labeled as a “pathology”, homosexuals across America were seen as diseased individuals meant to be isolated from society. With the American Psychiatric
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When asking 10 different psychiatrists who were members of the APA during the time of redefinition about what percentage of the APA believed homosexuality was a pathology, almost all responded over ninety percent. John Fryer, shockingly answered “...99. Even the ones of us who were gay.” A deeply saddening statement, Fryer reveals the sinister depths of homophobia in the APA. For fear of their livelihoods, many gay psychiatrists lived a dual world, only to converge during the GAYPA meetings. Yet, why as gay men did they believe the myth of homosexuality? Was it their training as a psychiatrist? Or was it internalized