From: Olli Stalstrom Subject: who disease label Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 07:54:51 +0300 (EET DST) The World Health Organization WHO has published last year its new classification of diseases ICD-10, from which homosexuality has been completely deleted. The American Psychiatric Association APA declassified homosexuality already in 1974. So homosexuality should not be officially classifiable as a disease anywhere in the world. Finland seems to be an exception, largely due to the strong influence of religion and old psychoanalysis. The notorious psychoanalyst Irving Bieber has been used as the expert in Finnish psychiatry since 1971 until today. The present psychiatry textbook still classifies homosexuality as a disturbance, although the Finnish National Board of Health struck homosexuality of the list of diseases used in Finland in 1981. Now the equally notorious religious psychoanalusts Socarides and Nicolosi are being introduced into this country by the 'reparative therapy' movement. One of the largest publishing companies will label homosexuality as a 'disorder' and 'perversion' in its new large medical handbook in the near future, in spite of protests from researchers that homosexuality cannot be classified as a disorder or disease. Their psychiatric expert is writing from a psychoanalytical tradition and dismissed all protests as 'opinions' of 'homosexual groups'. The WHO and APA are, however, official bodies, and not 'homosexual groups', and they have made their decisions after careful review of the empirical and theoretical studies on homosexuality. I'm a researcher associated with SETA, the Finnish gay and lesbian rights organization. We feel that we should make Finland a test case to examine whether the WHO decision has any meaning at all. We feel a private Finnish publisher does not have the right to classify homosexuality as a disorder. That's why the disease label was removed. Can anyone tell us how to do this protest? Does the WHO have an official mechanism for reviewing protests concerning the abuse of its classification of diseases? To whom should the protest be addressed? Does the WHO actually have the power to forbid someone from labelling homosexuals sick or can it just give a statement? Can anyone recommend an expert to help us in preparing this protest? Some psychoanalysts will feel very strongly about their right to call homosexuality a disorder. Socarides, in the United States, has created the concept of 'psychiatric rights', which means the right to research, cure and prevent homosexuality and the right for homosexuals to be cured. According to Socarides ''socio-political activism must not endanger the psychiatric rights''. Our psychoanalysts subscribe to the same philosophy. Could a protest be interpreted as an infringement of the psychoanalysts' 'rights' to classify homosexuality a 'disorder'? Do psychoanalysts have special rights to classify homosexuals as disordered? Who should file the protest? SETA is willing to do it, but it would expose us to accusations of 'complaining homosexual groups'. Should I do it as a researcher (I am just finishing my PhD thesis about the medicalization of homosexuality)? We feel this test case of Finland and the WHO decision concerning it would be of international importance and we want to prepare the case well. Olli Stalstrom Oksasenkatu 6 B 9 00100 Helsinki Finland email: stalstro@seta.fi