BMJ  2004;328:955-956 (17 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7445.955-c

Letter

Treating homosexuality as a sickness

Step in the right direction has been taken

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

EDITOR—Smith et al bring a new voice to a practice that had been hidden in the closet of medical history,1 and Lovitt is right to say that this openness may start a path to reconcile the psychiatric and gay populations (first letter). Some schools of psychotherapy, however, still view homosexuality as an aberration capable of cure, and several targeted religious programmes of intervention exist that are a hair's breadth away from aversion therapy.

Rape, bestiality, and paedophilia are all crimes because they involve the abuse of victims unable or unwilling to give consent. Homosexuality relates to sexual orientation and, like heterosexuality, in terms of sexual acts relates to consensual intercourse between consenting adults.

Moves at the United Nations to integrate sexual orientation into the antidiscrimination sections of the Human Rights Act are being championed by Brazil and blocked by the Vatican. Liberalisation of civil partnerships in the United . . . [Full text of this article]

Justin Varney, specialist registrar public health

Greenwich Primary Care Trust, London SE10 6QQ Justin.varney@greenwichpct.nhs.uk


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Relevant Article

Treatments of homosexuality in Britain since the 1950s—an oral history: the experience of patients
Glenn Smith, Annie Bartlett, and Michael King
BMJ 2004 328: 427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Boynton, P. (2004). More on treating homosexuality as a sickness: Publication of bigoted letter is worrying. BMJ 328: 1261-1261 [Full text]  
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