Homosexuality

I must respectfully but strongly disagree with Dr. David Dawes’s views regarding APA’s taking a position on same-sex unions, as expressed in his letter in the June 15 issue.

For better or worse, social, legal, and political issues often intersect with psychiatry and mental health issues, and the APA Trustees are correct in recognizing this. Lack of legal recognition for same-sex unions can have enormous implications for the psychological stability and well-being of a family, affecting the mental health of the adults involved and also of their children. Where issues such as child custody and property rights are involved, the absence of legal rights for these families can actually lead to loss of home or loss of parental rights, with the potential psychiatric sequelae such traumas entail.

The comparison Dr. Dawes makes between APA’s supporting legal status for same-sex unions and APA’s supporting a particular religious belief is a bizarre one. Far from a matter of faith, APA’s statement on legal recognition of same-sex unions is a well-researched position with high relevance to the lives of our patients, both adults and children. As a fellow dues-paying APA member, I am glad that the Trustees have not shied away from addressing this important issue.