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Psychologist who helped declassify homosexuality as a mental illness dies at 87 : NPR


Charles Silverstein (left) and his partner of 20 years, William Bory, smile for the camera in the 1970s. Silverstein has dedicated his work to helping LGBTQ people live without shame.

Archives of the oral history of Rutgers


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Archives of the oral history of Rutgers


Charles Silverstein (left) and his partner of 20 years, William Bory, smile for the camera in the 1970s. Silverstein has dedicated his work to helping LGBTQ people live without shame.

Archives of the oral history of Rutgers

Charles Silverstein, a psychologist and therapist who played a key role in making homosexuality a mental illness, died on January 30 at the age of 87. He had lung cancer. , according to his moderator Aron Berlinger.

“Before I went public, I wasn’t very brave. When I came out, I came out with everything, not only about sex but also about politics,” Silverstein said. told Rutgers Archives of Oral History in 2019.

Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy Association announced Silverstein’s death on Twitter, describes him as “a hero, activist, leader and friend” whose “contribution to the psychology and rights of LGBTQ+ individuals has been felt around the world.”

As a student, his first foray into activism was against the Vietnam War. He later joined the Gay Activists Coalition, which he describes as a radical gay organization.

Homosexuality was considered a mental disorder and “sexual deviance” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the authoritative mental health diagnostic suite at the time. . Near the end of his doctorate in social psychology, Silverstein was among a number of speakers challenging the scientific basis of classification in February 1973.

Silverstein wrote a satirical piece about all of the organization’s past absurd diagnoses — like “hypophobia” or an irrational fear of syphilis.

“In the end, I said, these are the mistakes you’ve made before,” and they’ve made the same mistake again and need to fix it, Silverstein. told Rutgers Archives of Oral History in 2019. “It seems to have impressed them.”

Ten months later, the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from the DSM’s list of mental disorders.

Silverstein also plays an important role in changing perspectives in the field of conversion therapy. Gerry Davison, a conversion therapy practitioner, heard a talk by Silverstein in 1972 against this approach. It touched him so deeply that he voiced his opposition to it for moral reasons – not medical reasons – in 1974 when he was president of the Association for the Advancement of Therapies. behavior. Silverstein told the Rutgers Oral History Archive that the two have been friends ever since.

As a gay man who grew up wanting to be “cured,” Silverstein has dedicated his life to helping LGBTQ people live shamelessly, from practicing psychotherapy to writing and more. He is a co-author The Joy of Gay SexA controversial book with images and graphic language that seeks to help men who have sex with men navigate and enjoy sex.

He has also published guidelines to help parents support their LGBTQ children, and he has written a clinical guide for psychotherapists treating LGBTQ patients.

Silverstein founded Identity House, an LGBTQ peer counseling organization, and the Human Identity Institute, which provides LGBTQ affirmation psychotherapy and started with volunteer gay and lesbian therapists for meeting time with LGBT clients. The current CEO of IHI, Tara Lombardo, issued a statement, speak“we really stood on his shoulders.”

He is survived by his adopted son.

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