Article on homosexuality being a mental disorder?

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by Rider *
**An interesting question is not so much how many gays would take this drug if it could make them straight, but how many straight men would take the antidote (or whatever) to make themselves gay. I’d say few to none. **

You’re pretty obviously correct. What would be the incentive to take the drug? Life is easier for straights in almost every way.

[t-keela]

I think the DSM dropped homosexuality from it’s list of disorders several years ago. I don’t remember what version offhand, but I’m fairly certain of the fact that it is NOT considered a disease, or a mental disorder by any legitimate, reputable medical or mental health experts.

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by t-keela *
**I think the DSM dropped homosexuality from it’s list of disorders several years ago. I don’t remember what version offhand, but I’m fairly certain of the fact that it is NOT considered a disease, or a mental disorder by any legitimate, reputable medical or mental health experts. **

Correct, but that’s not what the original post was about. Whether homosexuality is legally considered a disease/defect or not, its origin can still be a physical brain defect. That’s not something that can be legislated away.

[Cisco]

Priceguy: I originally said “the world” but I don’t know as much about the whole world as I do about America so I changed it. Glad to see other regions are doing just as good.

[t-keela]

The question was: “Anyone know which newspaper this was in?”

I don’t know what paper the article was in. I do know that a study was conducted and results presented in 1989, that showed homosexual men have (according to THIS study) larger Superchiasmatic nucleus as do women, than heterosexual men. They also have lower testosterone levels. Plus the anterior commissure is larger as well in gay men and women.
http://www.sherlockhound.com/cgi-bin/quicksearch.pl

These differences in brain structure and function have been studied for years. This “news” is not new…the problem is that these studies are merely coorelational studies and can’t prove causation or a “cure”. The results were significant, meaning there were enough examples to back up the theory, yet in many cases these differences are NOT found.

Someone mentioned earlier about the numerous variables in one’s life. That’s right on!
Indicator’s as evidence of a pre-existing or predisposition to gender preference are good debate material. But, science has yet to prove there is a “gay gene” even though they are searching hard.

Anyway, sorry if I got off the subject…no, I don’t which paper came out with the news again. Oh, 1973 was the year homosexuality was dropped from the DSM as a disorder.
Peace

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by Priceguy *
**I’ve always been told this is exactly what happened in Sweden in 1979, which is why homosexuality is not legally a disease here anymore. A bunch of homosexuals stayed home from work, some degree of chaos ensued (there were quite a few of them), and the legislators caved.

I cannot find any confirmation for this story on the internet, though, so I’m starting to doubt it. **

As I should. In case anyone’s interested, 've now found out that this is a myth. What happened in 1979 was that 30-40 homo- and bisexuals occupied a government building until they were allowed to talk to the Swedish equivalent (not really, but pretty close) of the Surgeon General. Homosexuality was soon stricken from the list of diseases.

[t-keela]

*Originally posted by Priceguy *
**As I should. In case anyone’s interested, 've now found out that this is a myth. What happened in 1979 was that 30-40 homo- and bisexuals occupied a government building until they were allowed to talk to the Swedish equivalent (not really, but pretty close) of the Surgeon General. Homosexuality was soon stricken from the list of diseases. **

and again:

“Correct, but that’s not what the original post was about. Whether homosexuality is legally considered a disease/defect or not, its origin can still be a physical brain defect. That’s not something that can be legislated away.”

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by t-keela *
**

As I should. In case anyone’s interested, 've now found out that this is a myth. What happened in 1979 was that 30-40 homo- and bisexuals occupied a government building until they were allowed to talk to the Swedish equivalent (not really, but pretty close) of the Surgeon General. Homosexuality was soon stricken from the list of diseases.

and again:

“Correct, but that’s not what the original post was about. Whether homosexuality is legally considered a disease/defect or not, its origin can still be a physical brain defect. That’s not something that can be legislated away.”

**

My last post wasn’t a reply to the original post. I had previously posted something that turned out to be erroneous, and I wanted to make it clear that I was wrong. Made an error, rectified it. Still confused?

[t-keela]

I’m not confused about your error in posting. I was confused as to why you found it necessary to “correct” me on the point of the OP when I brought up the subject. Yet you seem to find it an acceptable point of discussion for yourself.

[t-keela]

We haven’t heard fromAlietta in a while. Did you get anything you can use? A search using (gay, homosexual, enlarged, brain, defect) will pull up a great number of sources and studies regarding the question. You didn’t say when or where the article you wanted originated. So, I assume any will do.

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by t-keela *
**I’m not confused about your error in posting. I was confused as to why you found it necessary to “correct” me on the point of the OP when I brought up the subject. Yet you seem to find it an acceptable point of discussion for yourself. **

OK. Mandigordey quoted some comedian or other making a joke about homosexuals calling in sick. Since I believed that had happened in real life, I related my account thereof. When I found that my account was false, I felt it was necessary to correct myself. We’re supposed to be fighting ignorance, not spreading it.

Your post wasn’t (as far as I could tell, if I’m wrong you’re welcome to correct me) in reply to a specific other post but a General Answer to the General Question. Since I felt it was an answer to a totally different question than the one asked, I pointed this out. At no point did I mean any disrespect toward you or anyone else.

Shake and make up?

[Guinastasia]

Priceguy, I certainly didn’t mean any offense.

I think someone said there’s a scale and different degrees, or whatever.

[DougC]

Research has thus far concluded that the “causes” of homosexuality are such a complex combination of chemistry, biology, psychology, environment, experience, sociology, and so many other areas of science that end in “y” that it is impossible to determine a single origin. So why bother?

• • • Because once upon a time the earth was flat.
      …
• There’s two kinds of drugs: those that are life-saving, and those that aren’t. The ones that aren’t are the ones that you take just to make life easier. Now, my question is, if there was a drug to alter one’s sexual orientation, would anybody give into social norms and use it just to make hteir life easier, and who will the majority of users be? And if being homosexual is simply not taking the drug to alter it, what will “being homosexual” become?
  ~

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by Guinastasia *
**Priceguy, I certainly didn’t mean any offense.

**
None taken.

[susan]

Well, let’s say you live in a culture where it is a social stigma to like Cheerios. Let’s say you don’t dare tell anyone of your “shameful” desire for Cheerios. Wouldn’t you take a drug that would make you want Corn Flakes instead?

Well, then why are there any Jews? To put it another way, would black people take a pill to make them white? I find that being smart, which is statistically deviant, is a real hassle sometimes. Would you take a pill t6o be less smart, and thus statistically “normal”? (Or put a crayon up your nose, like Homer Simpson, to accomplish the same?)

To cleave more closely to the OP, even if homosexuality turns out to be associated with a brain defect (notice how anything different from the norm is a “defect,” not a “difference”?)–would left-handed people want to take a pill?

[Dunderman]

*Originally posted by Shoshana *
**

Well, let’s say you live in a culture where it is a social stigma to like Cheerios. Let’s say you don’t dare tell anyone of your “shameful” desire for Cheerios. Wouldn’t you take a drug that would make you want Corn Flakes instead?

Well, then why are there any Jews? To put it another way, would black people take a pill to make them white? I find that being smart, which is statistically deviant, is a real hassle sometimes. Would you take a pill t6o be less smart, and thus statistically “normal”? (Or put a crayon up your nose, like Homer Simpson, to accomplish the same?)**

Another quote of mine: “Sure, there are many Cheerios aficionados who wouldn’t take the Corn Flakes drug to save their lives, but many (although probably not most) would feel that switching happily to Corn Flakes would be very liberating.”

I never said ALL homosexuals would take the drug, in fact I said that most probably wouldn’t and that homosexuality as a phenomenon would continue.

Jews: Being Jewish-born automatically means you have a Jewish family, probably Jewish friends and so on. You have sense of history, a common religion and tradition. You have some reason to hold on to what you are, and probably a certain degree of pride as well. Lonesome homosexual teenagers crying themselves to sleep over their secret shame have none of these things. Besides, these days it’s not all that bad to be Jewish.

Blacks: Pretty much the same story as with the Jews, although the pride factor is likely to be lower, given the image blacks are force-fed through the media. But yes, I think a fair number of blacks would gladly take a pill that would make them white. I’m not saying either decision is right or wrong, I’m just stating my opinion.

Smart: No-one said brains made life easy. It DOES help you, though. Wearing a white coat is a lot more fun than flipping burgers for a living, and smart people tend to group together just like any other minority, gaining confidence from each other. They identify each other much more easily than gays do. Besides, a smart person can always find solace in the fact that he/she is superior to his/her peers in at least one area: intelligence. That’s what got me through school.

To clarify: I never said that homosexuals would storm the pharmacists the moment this drug hit the shelves. But I did say, and still think, that quite a few homosexuals, mainly young ones or ones that for one reason or another cannot reveal their homosexuality (priests, persons in high office who fear it would affect their image, etc), would happily take this drug. Anonymously, of course.

In other words, it wouldn’t be taken by Ellen DeGeneres, but it would be taken by Johnny, 17, from Squiggly Patch, West Virginia.

[Esprix]

Would some homosexuals take the pill? Of course. How many? No idea. Twenty years ago I would have said “most,” but today is a different place. It saddens me, however, that I believe most of today’s parents would give that pill to their kids if they found out they were gay or lesbian.

Esprix

[levdrakon]

My off topic $.02 worth is this:

I’ve read that a lot of teenage suicides & attempted suicides may be related to anxiety over sexual identity. Anecdotally then, I figure many youngsters are more or less self-medicating in the only ways they can, i.e. drugs & alcohol, gunshots to the head, ect. Once they make it to adulthood in more or less one piece, they no longer feel the need to take desparate measures to control their “gayness,” or take a “straight pill.”

This has more to do with how society makes these kids feel about themselves than wanting to be straight, although the two are related.

Any old hoo, if there were a straight pill I can only assume there would also be a gay pill. Imagine the mayhem & general hilarity of a bunch of people circulating among straight cocktail parties slipping gay pills in everyone’s drink. If you accidentally slipped a gay pill in a gay’s drink, then what would happen? Which sort of illustrates why there probably won’t ever be a straight pill. It’s got to be way too complicated.

As for gayness being found to be some sort of defect, it probably isn’t more of a defect than left handedness. At one time I believe that was grounds to have your left hand cut off. Nowadays we’re slightly more tolerant.

Although, have you ever had to eat next to a “lefty” in a crowded cafeteria? What a pain. Maybe we should “cure them.”