The relationship between homosexuality and medical science has a long and controversial history, covering many countries and stretching across a wide sprectrum of specialities, from psychology to epistemology to genetics. This article seeks to provide a brief summary of this history and a deal with some of the issues regarding homosexuality and medical science.

History

The real history of homosexuality and medical science begins with the European sexologist movement which eventually spawned modern psychology. For a detailed discussion of this please see the article 'Homosexuality and psychology'.

World War II

The period from the start of the twentieth century and World War II saw a period of sexual liberation, particularly for homosexuals. However, this was all to change with the rise of Fascism in Europe, particularly in Germany. The Nazi Party made use of medical science for the physical profiling to classify various races and 'criminal types', in particular homosexuality. This was perhaps the first modern attempt to make a non-psychological diagnosis of the 'homosexual condition'.

Unlike previous attempts to classify homosexuality as a psychological disorder, the Nazis, who strongly disapproved of 'Jewish' psychoanalysis and psychology in general, based their disapproval of homosexuality on physical factors. This was predominantly motivated by the fear that the spread of homosexuality could weaken or effeminise the Aryan male, and generally prohibit reproduction. For more information see the article Homosexuals in Nazi Germany.

For many outside of the Axis territories, WWII itself was a sexually liberating experience, particularly for homosexuals. The aftermath, however, brought renewed conservatism and emphasis on family values. Homosexuals were frequently forceably subjected to psychological treatments such as chemical castration, sexual reassignment surgerys and electroconvulsive therapy.

AIDS crisis

When the AIDS virus first appeared in the 1970s, baffled epidemiologists sometimes described the collective symptoms they were seeing as the 'gay disease' or 'gay cancer' because, at first, it appeared to be largely restricted to the male homosexual community. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention naming the syndrome Gay Related Immune Deficiency (GRID), a name which was later replaced with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) when it was discovered that it not only affect homosexuals but also many heterosexuals.

AIDS was a turning point for the gay community. Despite the fact that more people were dying each year from Hepatitis A and B, broad media coverage was given to the AIDS 'epidemic' in relation to homosexuality. Many in the anti-homosexual lobby leapt upon this as evidence that the 'homosexual lifestyle' was inherently dangerous. Conversely, the gay community, beleaguered by the growing health problem and attacks from the press and politicians, were united by the threat. They quickly began to combat the disease through activism and education. Many new gay rights and gay health groups formed, such as Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), and solicited support from the media and celebrities.

ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, whose famous slogans include, "Silence Equals Death," organized and inventively protested on many AIDS issues including treatment, research funding, drug access, and discrimination.

The AIDS crisis also helped to publicise homosexuality in a positive light, as homosexual issues received more coverage. In many ways, it helped jump-start and unify the gay rights movement in the aftermath of the disapointing sexual liberation movement and set the scene for the gay liberation movement during and after the 1990s.

Issues

Gay Rights and Medicine

Many gay advocates object to the labeling of any medical condition as being gay specific because of its implicit assumptions.

Genetics

The advent of modern genetic science has seen revived interest in the argument of nature versus nurture as a cause of homosexuality as well as advances in the treatment of AIDS and other diseases. The precise ramifications of this and modern biotechnology are not yet apparent. See genetic basis for homosexuality and causes of sexual orientation for more information.

Lesbianism

It is worth noting that lesbians are less at risk of exposure to sexual disease than many other groups.

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