In 1973 The American Psychiatric Association removed the classification of disorder from homosexuality. The American Psychological Association followed suit in 1975. Now, in 2011, the American Psychological Association has unanimously (157-0) thrown its support behind same sex marriage.
“Now as the country has really begun to have experience with gay marriage, our position is much clearer and more straightforward — that marriage equity is the policy that the country should be moving toward,” says Clinton Anderson, director of APA’s Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.
The resolution points to numerous recent studies, including findings that “many gay men and lesbians, like their heterosexual counterparts, desire to form stable, long-lasting and committed intimate relationships and are successful in doing so.”
They added that campaigns working to overturn or ban same sex marriage are having detrimental effects on the psychological state of mind of LGBT Americans.
This new pronouncement is expected to have far reaching effect on public policy throughout the nation.
