Treating homosexuality as a sickness: Transvestites might be the new outcasts

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7445.955

BMJ 2004;328:955 (17 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7445.955

Letter

Treating homosexuality as a sickness

Transvestites might be the new outcasts

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Smith et al's article on patients' experiencesof treatments for homosexuality since the 1950s should be seenas part of a reconciliation process between society and medicineand lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.¹ The charity Mind hasproduced an outstanding resource, Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexualsand Mental Health, which provides invaluable information—aswell as detailing recent abusive counselling and psychotherapy.²

In the early 1990s I used to volunteer on the Aberdeen Lesbianand Gay Switchboard, and I recall receiving three calls frompeople who had undergone electroshock therapy in the recentpast and from one young man who was undergoing it at the time.I was totally horrified at the extent to which family and religiouspressure was seemingly the main driver in trying to cure healthypeople by the application of totally inappropriate "medical"treatments.

The United Kingdom has changed for the better, and now . . . [Full text of this article]

Chris J Lovitt, public health specialist trainee

South West Kent Primary Care Trust, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3PG chris.lovitt@nhs.net

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