Homosexuality and the APA

[Richard Moreau]

This coming week, This American Life will be looking at the behind the scenes efforts that got the APA to remove homosexuality from its definition of deviant sexuality:

81 Words. For decades, the entry on "Sexual deviations" in the official manual of the American Psychiatric Association contained 81 words. For decades, one of those words was "homosexuality." We devote this week's entire program
to the untold story of how the APA's closeted gay president-elect, and several of his colleagues, spearheaded a behind-the-scenes movement to change the definition. In 1973 they finally succeeded, but not before spawning a full-scale professional war, which one side saw as a battle of liberation, and the other saw as a defense of "the basic code and concept of life." Broadcast the weekend of January 18-20 in most markets, or available here next week via RealAudio.

I think this episode will be aired on WHYY, 91 FM on Sunday at 11:00 am and again Wed at 10:00 pm. Check out thisamericanlife.com or whyy.org.

Has anyone ever heard what became of the Nightline 5 part series on ?gay youth that was to air back in September but was shelved due to 9/11 reporting?

-Ricky