Introduction
Gender identity is an internal self-perception of a human being as a woman, a female character, a man, or a male character, not belonging to a particular sex. There are many different sexual orientations and gender identities. However, for a long time, state governments did not officially recognize the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and their orientation was considered a disease. Thus, it is essential to establish the reasons for recognizing homosexuality as a person’s personal identity rather than a disease.
The Changes in Recognized Homosexuality
It is significant to note that perceptions of homosexuality have changed over time. The Swiss physician Samuel Tissot wrote a medical treatise in 1760 that did not deal specifically with the issue of homosexuality, but it had a considerable effect on doctors’ attitudes. This book, which has survived 63 reprints, argued that wasting semen leads to nervous system dysfunction. For a century and a half, many physicians viewed sex as a potentially dangerous activity for health. The German psychiatrist Richard von Kraft-Ebing published Psychopathology of Sexuality. While Tisso depended extensively on an unnamed pamphlet published prior his being born in London, Kraft-Ebing uses observation material from the Graz Clinic in Austria. He systematizes many cases of atypical sexual behavior, including homosexuality (Gibson et al. 33). More recently, the Havelock Alice study examined multiple cases of homosexual gay men who did not distinguish themselves from straight men of the exact age and social rank, excluding their sexual identity.
In addition to focusing on previously prohibited phenomena and psychic processes, Freud advanced the idea that all persons are created without any explicit sexual identity. According to Freud, all human beings are inherently bisexual, and homosexuality results from a malfunction in the process of sexual development. Since 1970, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) meetings started to be protesters by gays and lesbians. They advocated the removal of homosexuality from the list of diseases. Homosexuality in America was officially recognized as a variant of the norm. After 1991, when the amendment to remove homosexuality from the list of diseases was adopted by the International Health Association, whether homosexuality is pathological can be considered definitively closed (Gibson et al. 37). It is significant to highlight the epidemiological research substantiating the only gay ban currently in effect in the United States and several other countries.
Epidemiological studies concern the specifics of disease transmission among homosexual or bisexual men and women. Gays are more likely than heterosexuals to engage in oral sex, which is associated with more significant risks of HIV and other infections (Gibson et al. 94). Gay activists are perturbed, but health professionals are adamant: in general, men who have sex with men are more likely to have HIV or hepatitis viruses.
Significantly, the change in the perception of gays and lesbians was due to protests over the inaction of governments organized to fight AIDS. At the same time, the protesters demanded recognition of their sexual orientation at the legislative level. Thus, ACT UP should be mentioned; activists fought aggressively for recognition of the rights of the LGBT community. For instance, they threw a condom at a priest who actively opposed same-sex relationships. It is essential to conceive of the Stonewall riots that stimulated the LGBT movement. The search at the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York led to protests and riots by LGBT supporters (Gibson et al. 94). In addition, a key figure in the fight for gay and lesbian rights was Barney Frank, who was a member of Congress and gay. He publicly proclaimed his orientation and encouraged it to be recognized as a person’s private identity.
Conclusion
The active position of gays and lesbians made it possible in the second half of the 20th century to recognize their rights and identity legally. This change in attitudes occurred because members of the LGBT community were interested in the problems of the LGBT minority and scientists and health professionals. Hence, their joint efforts contributed to recognizing homosexuality as an identity rather than a medical disease. Consequently, under public pressure, politicians passed LGBT rights on the legislative level.
Work Cited
Gibson, Michelle, et al. Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBT Studies. Sage, 2017.