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Homosexuality a Psychological Disorder: Pentagon Document

By John Jalsevac

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-homosexual group known as Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM), a think tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara, claims to have unearthed a current Pentagon document that lists homosexuality as a psychological disorder.

According to the CSSMM the Department of Defense Instruction that so categorizes homosexuality was signed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in 1996 and re-certified as "current" in 2003.

Although homosexuality has traditionally been considered a psychological disorder the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses over thirty years ago, claiming that it "implies no impairment in judgment, stability, reliability, or general social and vocational capabilities." The APA’s decision, however, has been the subject of criticism in recent years with some alleging that the 1973 move to remove homosexuality from the list of disorders was highly influenced by homosexual activism and not objective scientific data (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06020902.html).

The CSSMM responded to what it has called an outdated and offensive classification of homosexuality by issuing a “report card” on the military, giving it 'F's' in four out of five categories, including "Mental Health Classification," "Anti-gay Harassment and Command Climate," "Evidence-Based Assessment of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'" and "Family Support."

Dr. Aaron Belkin, director of CSSMM, expressed grave concern that the military continues to list homosexuality as a mental illness. "It's unclear why a DoD document would classify homosexuality as a mental disorder over thirty years after the psychiatric community acknowledged this is a mistake," said Dr. Belkin. The vast majority of other military documents no longer list homosexuality as a mental disorder.

Current military policy still requires the discharge of members who openly profess their homosexuality, although the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy forbids recruiters from inquiring into the sexual activities or preferences of the recruit. However, the number of discharges from the military on account of homosexuality have dramatically increased in the last number of years as members have increasingly openly challenged the policy. The Supreme Court has many times over refused to hear cases challenging the constitutionality of the policy.

A 1998 report on the effectiveness of the military’s policies concluded that “service by those who have a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct creates an unacceptable risk to morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion, and that the long-standing prohibition of homosexual conduct therefore continues to be necessary in the unique circumstances of military service.”

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeremy M. Martin said the offending document is under review.

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