This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Edward G. Dreyfus, MD
Denver

JAMA. 1970;213(9):1494-1495.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In an article in THE JOURNAL, "Homosexuality and Medicine" (212:1199, 1970), the author develops the thesis that obligatory homosexuality, as distinct from episodic homosexual behavior, is of itself a serious form of illness, curable with conversion to heterosexuality in about one third of all cases. He further claims that because it is an illness, only physicians can understand and deal with it, and that no significant contribution can be made by jurists, clergymen, or social scientists.

I agree with the author that homosexuality is common and that something may need to be done about it, but I do not believe that he has made a good case for insisting that only physicians—specifically psychiatrists—can understand and deal with it.

The author has offered a number of reasons why he feels as he does, but these are not convincing. He has, on the basis of an as yet . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?