News-Letter

Before 1973, The American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, aka the Bible of Psychology, categorized homosexuality as a mental illness.

In the early `70s, a group of people successfully petitioned the APA to have homosexuality removed from the list of mental illnesses. This was a successful endeavor. One major participant in the petition was Dr. Charles Silverstein, and it is for this reason that Friday evening a small group of eager listeners, mostly from the gay community, came to hear him speak in the Great Hall.

Dr Charles Silverstein is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist as well as a certified sex therapist who deals exclusively with the gay community. In addition to doing research and publishing many noted books on homosexuality, Dr. Silverstein also holds office hours during which he offers individual, group or couples therapy. Despite his serious tone when discussing important social and scientific issues, he is generally a jolly man, somewhat reminiscent of Santa Claus, only minus the beard.

In his talk, Dr. Silverstein hit upon two major topics: the implications of the 1973 ruling and the future threats to the status of homosexuality. He explained that in the petitioning they had both short- and long-range goals. They wanted to stop therapists from treating homosexuality with drugs for mental illnesses, even if the patient asked for them.

At the time, psychiatrists were the "gatekeepers for moral beliefs" and went so far as to even control the criminal code for sexuality. The petitioners wanted to eliminate arrests for sodomy. They also, as a short range goal, wanted to stop the use of sexual orientation from preventing homosexuals from getting jobs or obtaining a doctoral license.

Back in the early 1970s the medical profession operated on a "don't tell, get license" basis, and anybody found to be gay would be stripped of their license due to its status as a mental illness. As the greater goal, which the psychologists involved in petitioning were striving towards, was to "destroy the use of morality as a foundation for diagnostic illness." They wanted to remove the notion that moral and legal boundaries had any place in the diagnostic world.

Dr. Silverstein then segued into what he believes to be the next pressing threat to the gay community, a threat lurking within scientific discoveries which most scientists are excited about. This is the process of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. The process is, simply, when prior to invitro implantation the DNA of the fertilized ovum is tested to look for any genetic abnormalities.

This is already being used, to some extent, to create babies devoid of genetic diseases, such as Huntington's or sickle-cell anemia. While this may seem like a completely positive procedure, it does have many dangerous social implications, as Dr. Silverstein pointed out in his speech.

In a study done at Johns Hopkins in 2002, 28 percent of women said they would abort a baby for "behavioral characteristics." This includes things such as intelligence or athleticism. Dr. Silverstein interpreted the data as including sexuality. He states that "people who believe sexual orientation is socially influenced are wrong c9 maybe it's not genetic, but it's definitely biological.

"Thus, the thought that science is getting closer and closer to possibly stamping out homosexuality is a frightening one in his eyes. He believes that attempting to cure disease through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis may be a positive thing, but, as with all science, it has the potential for bad and is the "crack in the door" that may lead to more serious issues. He believes that "young mothers want what's best for their children: If you offer hope for that, they will pay for it."

Dr. Silverstein talked about the social implications of this procedure. For starters, insurance would most likely not cover it, and thus only the richer people in the country could afford it. This will lead to rich people with guaranteed disease-free heterosexual babies, whereas the others would not be able to afford such a thing, thus leading to further problems in social policy. In addition, the procedure provides a threat to society as a whole, with scientists playing God and controlling the DNA of every potential baby to come into the world.

Dr. Silverstein strongly urged the audience, and all people, to join with other groups who should be concerned about this issue. He pushed for the idea of a university-based program to start the dialogue, and strong publicity through local media, as well as panel discussions to bring other people into the battle.

"I don't trust society to be ethical," he said. "People have to get involved to create a standard for ethical diagnosis. We have to keep people from stamping out the gay community." He urges the gay community, with some hesitance, to "stop worrying about marriage."

He recognizes that the most politically heated topic will provide the most coverage and results, and he believes that this is more important for the gay community and society as a whole than simply fighting for a name distinction. Currently, Dr. Silverstein's largest problem is where to get his work published. "It's not exactly research c9 yet, it's what some people might call `hysteria about the future.'"

You can contact Dr. Charles Silverstein at:

233 West 83rd Street

New York, N.Y. 10024

(212) 799-8574

csilverstein@nyc.rr.com

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