Social Contexts

Prior to the gay liberation movement of the 1970’s, homosexuality was classified
as a mental disorder. In the 1970’s, however, when psychiatrists were revising
the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM), they removed homosexuality from the list of
illnesses. The third edition of the manual (DSM-III), published in 1980, reflected
this change. Homosexuality is not associated with disordered thinking
or impaired abilities in any way. Therefore, counseling or therapy for the
purpose of changing sexual orientation is not recommended. Even when
sought, such therapy is rarely successful. On the other hand, many gays, especially
adolescents, find benefit from counseling in order to find information,
support, and ways to cope with their sexuality.
For men, sexual orientation seems to be fixed at an early age; most gay
men feel that they were always homosexual, just as most heterosexual men
feel they were always heterosexual. In women, however, sexual orientation is
less likely to be fixed early; some women change from a heterosexual to homosexual
orientation (or vice versa) in adulthood. In such cases, sexual orientation
is better seen as a choice than as an acting out of something preexisting
in the psyche, and often such changes are made after a woman has left
an unhealthy or abusive relationship or has experienced some other sort of
emotional or psychological awakening that changes her outlook on life. In
these cases, counseling for the sake of changing sexual orientation per se is
not recommended, but it may be appropriate for the woman to seek help
dealing with the other changes or events in her life. Most women in this circumstance
find that a same-sex, even lesbian, therapist is most helpful, because
she will be likely to empathize with her client.
Many women who change sexual orientation in midlife already have children,
and many who are lesbian from adolescence choose to have children
by artificial insemination or by having intercourse with a male friend. Often,
such women have found a lack of support for their parenting and sometimes experience legal problems retaining custody rights of their children. Gay
men, too, have had difficulty retaining parental rights or becoming foster or
adoptive parents.

Psychological research shows, however, that homosexuals are as good at
parenting as heterosexuals and that they are as effective at providing role
models. Homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to model androgyny—
the expression of both traditionally masculine and traditionally
feminine attributes—for their children. Some research has shown that an
androgynous approach is healthier and more successful in American society
than sticking to traditionally defined roles. For example, sometimes women
need to be assertive on the job or in relationships, whereas traditionally,
men were assertive and women were passive. Similarly, men are less likely to
experience stress-related mental and physical health problems if they learn
to express their emotions, something only women were traditionally supposed
to do.

Neither modeling androgyny nor modeling homosexuality is likely to
cause a child to become homosexual, and children raised by homosexual
parents are no more likely to become homosexual than children raised by
heterosexual parents. Similarly, modeling of androgyny or homosexuality
by teachers does not influence the development of homosexuality in children
and adolescents. Having an openly homosexual teacher may be a stimulus
for a gay child to discover and explore his or her sexuality, but it does
not create that sexuality.

Other variations in adult sexual expression, sometimes associated with or
confused with homosexuality, are transvestism and transsexuality. Transvestism
occurs when a person enjoys or is sexually excited by dressing as a member
of the opposite sex. Some gay men enjoy cross-dressing, and others enjoy
acting feminine. The majority of homosexuals, however, do not do
either; most transvestites are heterosexual. Transsexuality is different from
both homosexuality and transvestism; it is categorized by a feeling that one
is trapped in a body of the wrong sex. Transsexuality, unlike homosexuality
or transvestism, is considered a mental disorder; it is officially a formof gender
dysphoria—gender confusion. Transsexuals may feel as though they are
engaging in homosexual activity if they have sexual relations with a member
of the opposite sex. Some transsexuals decide to cross-dress and live as a
member of the opposite sex. They may have hormone treatments or surgery
to change legally into a member of the opposite sex. Transsexuality, unlike
homosexuality or transvestism, is very rare.