Hey, Im sure the answer is no. Its just that Im in the process of accepting Im gay and I have made major improvement (with myself cause I havent told anybody and Im not planning to in the near future) The thing is, the other day there was this family reunion, and the gay marriage was brought up. Surprisingly a cousin of mine said it was all right (cause my family in general is homophobic) then my aunt told him it couldnt be right because it is a mental illness that has to be treated, I told her I didnt think it was a mental illness, and she said there have been studies on the matter. So I was only wondering if you could help me proof her wrong in some way. She also said that gays die at a young age because the get std, like aids, is this true?
The APA hasn't considered homosexuality a mental illness in decades. It prohibits gay conversion therapy, advising doctors to help their patients improve their feelings about being gay rather than "curing" them. As to the death rate, during the height of the AIDS epidemic, that was probably true, but nowadays thanks to much better condom use, we're living at similar rates to straight people.
A mental illness is defined as a mental disorder that causes stress to the person who suffers from it and/or inhibits their ability to function in society. Because of that, what is defined as a mental illness can vary from culture to culture. By the old cultural norms of our society, being gay certainly could have caused a person distress and made them unable to function in society back in the day, but time have changed. Our culture is much more accepting of gay people than it used to be, so there's no reason homosexuality should cause a person distress or inhibit their ability to function in society. Thus it isn't a mental illness. If those were actual studies your aunt was referencing to, they were probably either old or incredibly biased, or completely fabricated. As for dying young, there's a grain of truth to it, tragically. The stereotype of gay men being promiscuous is not entirely unfounded, and promiscuity without the proper use of protection can lead to STDs. However, with the proper use of protection and precautions while having sex, a gay person is no more likely to die early of an STD than a straight person.
1. It was considered a mental illness way back when and then the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association and more and more all defined that it was no longer defined as an illness. And any studies now that say it still is are generally by religious organizations and conservative bigots trying to show we're evil, nasty little creatures. and 2.That's a bold faced bigoted answer. Frankly while Gamer is not unfounded in what he's said, gays will however only die at a young age IF they don't use protection and have constant promiscuous sex. However the same thing can be said in the heterosexual community. Recent reports from the CDC have shown that more than 50% of reported cases of HIV/AIDS these days is amongst women which is just as unfortunate. That's basically my two cents.
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the US with around 150,000 members. Here is a more detailed explanation from them about what Liam had summarized: APA Psychology Help Center -- Homosexuality Please let us know if you have any questions. That's what EC is here for.
Your aunt is ignorant and offensive. Being gay is in no way shape or form a mental illness. Being gay does not guarantee you STD's any more than being straight does. Protect yourself, and you'll be okay. You should tell your aunt that she has no idea what she's talking about and she needs to put down the homophobic crap she's been reading. Being gay is the same idea as being straight, only the genders are different. There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with being gay. It's actually pretty awesome.
^ let's not bash his aunt, now... but basically, everyone here is right. there is no need to fret on this one- homosexuality is definitely NOT a mental illness
I'd say Homosexuality isn't a mental illness. Fair enough to the people that do, but there's no real identifiable proof that it is. It's sexuality that's about it.
