The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is in the process of revising its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), with the DSM-V having an anticipated publication date of 2012. As part of that ongoing process, in May 2008, APA announced its appointment of the Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders (WGSGID). The announcement generated a flurry of concerned and anxious responses in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, mostly focused on the status of the diagnostic categories of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) (for both children and adolescents and adults). Activists argued, as in the case of homosexuality in the 1970s, that it is wrong to label expressions of gender variance as symptoms of a mental disorder and that perpetuating DSM-IV-TR’s GID diagnoses in the DSM-V would further stigmatize and cause harm to transgender individuals. Other advocates in the trans community expressed concern that deleting GID would lead to denying medical and surgical care for transgender adults. This review explores how criticisms of the existing GID diagnoses parallel and contrast with earlier historical events that led APA to remove homosexuality from the DSM in 1973. It begins with a brief introduction to binary formulations that lead not only to linkages of sexual orientation and gender identity, but also to scientific and clinical etiological theories that implicitly moralize about matters of sexuality and gender. Next is a review of the history of how homosexuality came to be removed from the DSM-II in 1973 and how, not long thereafter, the GID diagnoses found their way into DSM-III in 1980. Similarities and differences in the relationships of homosexuality and gender identity to psychiatric and medical thinking are elucidated. Following a discussion of these issues, the author recommends changes in the DSM-V and some internal and public actions that the American Psychiatric Association should take.

Parallels and Contrasts in the History of Homosexuality, Gender Variance, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

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Queer Diagnoses: Parallels and Contrasts in the History of Homosexuality, Gender Variance, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual

Inspired by a literary-feminist reading of biblical texts, it is suggested that the mission of community psychology/social science can be understood as a calling to use our tools (research methods, critical analysis and observation, scholarship, social influence) to assist others in the job of turning tales of terror into tales of joy. Such work is the essence of personal and social change. These are not things we can do alone; they require collaboration between us and the people of concern. Applying concepts from narrative theory, including description and critical analysis of community and setting narratives, dominant cultural narratives, and personal stories, we can learn from our own communities and we can use our resources to help make known (perhaps even help to imagine new) tales of joy. Some of these themes are illustrated in three very different contexts: a religious community that has made itself inclusive of gay and lesbian people, a mutual help organization that offers a sense of community and hope for the future to people with a history of serious mental illness, and a public elementary school.

Community Narratives: Tales of Terror and Joy

This article explores the convergence of racism, sexism, and heterosexism in the lives of African American women, particularly lesbian and bisexual women, and its effects on the development of their sexuality and sexual identity. Specifics of this discussion focus on African American women, however, the struggles reflected in their development of a personal identity exemplify the kinds of struggles that most women of color encounter. These struggles are reflected in the need to negotiate a dominant culture that devalues women, people of color, and lesbians; the need to master and integrate the cultural derivatives of one's own ethnic group; the need to manage relationships with family, community, and partners; and the need to form a consolidated personal identity.

African American Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Preamble In December of 1998, the Board of Trustees issued a position statement (see attached) that the American Psychiatric Association opposes any psychiatric treatment, such as "reparative" or conversion therapy, which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that a patient should change his/her sexual homosexual orientation. In doing so, the APA joined many other professional organizations that either oppose or are critical of "reparative" therapies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, The American Counseling Association, and the National Association of Social Workers (1). The following Position Statement expands and elaborates upon the statement issued by the Board of Trustees in order to further address public and professional concerns about therapies designed to change a patient's sexual orientation or sexual identity. It augments rather than replaces the 1998 statement.

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Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies)

"The Good Book" is a brilliant and inspiring look at the Bible today from the preacher to Harvard University, a man Time magazine called one of the seven best preachers in America. "The theme of this book, " writes Peter Gomes in his introduction, "is the risk and the joy of the Bible: risk in that we might get it wrong, and joy in the discovery of the living Word becoming flesh. It is around this theme that I formulate three basic questions which the thoughtful reader brings to the Bible: What is it? How is it used? What does it have to say to me?" With compassion, humor, and insight, Gomes gives us the tools we need to make the Bible a dynamic part of our daily lives - and reminds us that the Bible is not just doctrine and interpretation, but one of the most available and extraordinary means by which we are brought into proximity with the divine.

Peter J. Gomes

Papers

The Good Book: Reading the Bible With Mind and Heart