Board Says APA Will Work to Fight Discriminatory Law

The APA Board of Trustees voted at its meeting last month to put the Association on record formally opposing the U.S. military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy that subjects gay men and lesbians to dismissal from the service if they acknowledge their sexual orientation. This follows a similar proposal that passed the Assembly last November. The AMA also registered strong objections to the policy at its most recent meeting (Psychiatric News, December 18, 2009).

The Board's action directs the Department of Government Relations to advocate for the policy's termination as part of its lobbying agenda.

The Board also called for a comprehensive review of the role that psychiatric subspecialties play within the Association, recognizing that subspecialty issues will affect APA in upcoming years and that about half of U.S. psychiatrists practice in one of the subspecialty areas. Among the ideas to be assessed is to what extent the subspecialty organizations have a voice in APA policy. As part of this proposal, the board endorsed the idea of having the APA president and president-elect meet during the APA annual meeting with the presidents of groups representing five psychiatric subspecialties recognized by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and American Psychosomatic Society).

The Board also voted to approve a joint membership proposal from the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry (AAPDP) in which members of that organization who aren't APA members (of whom there are about 150) will be offered a one-time dues reduction of $150 to join APA and a one-time 50 percent reduction in the cost of any APPI book they buy. All AAPDP members will also be eligible for an annual reduction in AAPDP dues of $25 if they include a photocopy of their APA membership card with their AAPDP dues. The Board will make this offer available for three annual dues cycles.

A considerable portion of last month's Board of Trustees meeting was held in closed sessions to discuss APA's 2010 budget and a reorganization that involves the APA subsidiaries—American Psychiatric Foundation, American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, and American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.