Same-Sex Marriage

I am writing in support of the Board of Trustees' approval of the position statement in support of same-sex civil marriage. Those who say that APA should not involve itself in such matters have forgotten both our history and our responsibility to care for our patients' whole lives, not just symptoms which may be amenable to medication.

It is entirely appropriate for APA to make statements regarding civil rights issues. We know well that depriving people of civil rights has mental health consequences, as there is a strong scientific literature supporting this. With respect to civil rights for gay people, psychiatry has a special burden to speak loudly. Homosexuality was a diagnosis until 1973, and ego-dystonic homosexuality remained in the DSM until 1987; thus, our profession was used to help bolster discrimination in many arenas. For example, psychiatrists played a key role for years in screening gay people out of the military on the basis of being “paranoid” characters and therefore unfit to serve.

This position statement is a revision of APA's previous statement in support of civil unions. It acknowledges that civil unions are not portable across state lines and do not offer the same benefits as civil marriages. We are either for equal rights or we are not.

Civil marriage would help gay men and lesbians gain legal protections for themselves and their children. Supporting it is something that our profession should proudly do, and I applaud the Trustees for taking this step.