ABSTRACT
Prior to 1973, homosexuality was regarded as a psychiatric illness entitled “neurosis,” the previous term for a personality disorder. It is currently considered a normal variation of human sexual orientation (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Thankfully, homophobia has been re-named as “sexual stigma” (Herek, 2004), which:
refers to the unfavorable perception and devalued status of those who identify or are perceived as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT). Due to these advances in perspective, non-heterosexual orientation is no longer seen as a mental illness in and of itself, but rather associated psychological distress is related to the negative social context. Nonetheless, gender dysphoria still exists as a psychological disorder in the DSM-5.(Abele, 2014: 3; American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
