If being gay/trans isn't a psychiatric illness, then what's "normal?"
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Politics
tokyojapan-59350 — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 12:29 PM)
You know I like to use the term "libertarian" or "libertine" when it comes to gay men and the like and to adult trans people. I don't really care either way if they do their business behind closed doors and to a degree don't even care if they get married. I don't care if trans people get their surgeries. I'd rather NOT have the taxpayer finance it. I'd also rather NOT have them be able to use say open locker rooms where there are young children or impressionable teens or vulnerable adults around. Simply because its too complex a medical and sociological topic for many to understand.
Homosexuality was on the APA'S Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorder list for DECADES until I think it was 1973, when it was taken off, supposedly under political pressure.
Homosexuals serve no reproductive purpose, nor do trans.
IT USED TO BE that we described such individuals as "sick" or mentally ill. Therapy and/or psychiatric medication were/was prescribed. But if these "deviant"(that's a sociological term) sex practices are not "illnesses" nor "abnormal" then what exactly is normal?
Can we then objectively say that people with other psychiatric or neurological conditions are sick as well?
If orientation and gender are just social constructs rather than solid biological/medical classifications then where does the relativism end?
Are people with bipolar, autism, schizophrenia, depression diagnoses, etc also not abnormal? -
tokyojapan-59350 — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 01:49 PM)
Well, in the mid 20th century there was a sort of evolutionary bent to psychiatry. I guess with touches of vaguely secular Christian compassion.
Now its down a rabbit hole where nutjobs make up their own theories and illnesses and then pharma corporations hawk medications for said made up(like Asperger's) ailments that are misdiagnosed and then we keep adding "layers to the onion." -
monthofsundays — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 12:33 PM)
It's still not normal. Normal is a statistical concept. If everyone wore shoes on their hands it would be normal. Transgender is still an abnormality. Gay people, less so, but still less common than heterosexuality.
I've no desire to label either as illness. Especially when they, like anybody, can be rational or irrational on any given subject. Just because you're transgender or gay doesn't make your opinion of politics or movies or anything else less valid. That's just shooting the messenger. -
tokyojapan-59350 — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 01:52 PM)
Get over what? I don't care if they are.
I actually was having this discussion with a gay dude I work with. It just got me thinking. It just kind of confuses me because the medical definitions keep changing it seems based on political whims of the day. -
NostalgiasForGeeks — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 02:01 PM)
It's not a political whim. It's been changed for a long time.
Did you tell your gay coworker that you think he's mentally ill?
*With her alive-nostrils once snaggle front-tooth crossing the other and wear bangs -InherentlyYours -
bbrown2676 — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 02:11 PM)
It did.
And for a period of time during and after the civil war, medical journals said that since slaves had decreased lung capacity, that it was beneficial for them to be slaves, since it kept them outside in the fresh air.
And Freud thought that if you smoke a cigar, you wanted a d**k in your mouth.
Thoughts change. -
NostalgiasForGeeks — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 12:53 PM)
First, this might shock you, but both Trans and gays can reproduce! Some even do!
But
in our curtain society reproduction doesn't determine whether or not a relationship is normal or valid. If that were the case, old people dating and getting married would be looked down upon.
Secondly, homosexuality is seen all through-out history and in thousands of species. It's seen so frequently and consistantly it's easy to conclude that it's a natural variation of sexuality. That's exactly why it was removed as a "mental illness". That along with the fact that being gay doesn't have any negative effect on a persons life like bi-polar or schitzophrenia.
Lastly, who cares? It's been proven time and time again that you cannot change someone's orientation. If they're a dude and like dicks, or a woman who likes the puss, more power to them. It's no less normal or abnormal than using a condom or getting a blowjob durring sex, especially if your guide to being "normal" is that sex is meant for reproduction.
I really don't get why this is even still being discussed. Gay people are gay. Who cares?
As for Trans, that's quite different, so
personally
I wouldn't even lump the two together. But that's me.
*With her alive-nostrils once snaggle front-tooth crossing the other and wear bangs -InherentlyYours -
NostalgiasForGeeks — 9 years ago(February 13, 2017 01:20 PM)
Hey genius, everyone knows that. I was actually making a comment about your obvious struggle with your own sexuality.
There's probably a pretty good chance that you crave the penis. That's fine. No judgements from me. Just sayin.
*With her alive-nostrils once snaggle front-tooth crossing the other and wear bangs -InherentlyYour