Often, of course, some of the the very best people go largely unknown...now you know this one, at least a little!

I think it is great that you shared this with us. Thank you, Jonathan.~r

Joan Don't you get the sense that we miss the passsings of many who've done some great things?

I love psychiatrists and so I love this guy.
Thanks for giving him his due accolade.

Rated/Buddy

Thanks for this worthy tribute, Jon.

Buddy very welcome!

Matt I tht to give the man his due. :)

Thanks Jon. I had no knowledge of him.

I had no idea and thank you..
HUGGGGGGGG

Scanner at times the very best of us are content to never make a large slash. :)

Linda thanks so much!

Thanks for giving this fellow his dues JW. Do you know if this was an issue in his election?

I remember becoming aware of the debate sometime in the 70s and being surprised something like that was still on the books. And the U.S. wasn't the only culprit. Tom Robinson used to introduce his pioneering song Glad To Be Gay by calling it a medical song as cited in in the World Health Organization's standard reference manual.

Thank you for sharing this, Jon. I had no idea.

Cathy any time!

Abra I do know that NPR ran a compelling hour-long piece on the APA upheaval over this some years back. I bet it's available.

Thank you. But for this man, my son would be deemed "insane". Now someone needs to let the Mormons understand this too.

Star there have to be some Mormons out there who will have the guts to take this on.

Sometimes it only takes one person to stand up to a village to raise a people.

Thanks Al, you're fabulous!
Hot Cop, Biker, Indian, Construction worker, G.I., Cowboy, Village People

Were it not for your tribute, I may not have known about him still. May he rest in peace and be awarded for all his worthy efforts in the afterlife, if there is one. Thank you, Jonathan.
♥R

Bless you, as well, Graham.

FusunA any time!

Thank you so much for posting this. -R-

This isn't the only thing the APA has had issues with. It's good to see that some of the more rational people manage to make headway at the APA. Now we need someone to make it to the presidency to put more emphasis on the impact of child abuse.

Christine you're so welcome!

Zach you're quite right.

Actually, I find the story of the gay and human rights activist behind the DSM's reversal to be interesting:
Frank Kameny. This is the guy that NPR did a piece on a while back.
I personally look on the field of psychiatry and psychology with distrust due to their ability to pathologize unpopular behaviors and their increased presence in justice proceedings - and particularly their increasingly accepted ability to profile and predict future behaviors. Using "science" and statistics as a sort of voodoo. Although I don't disagree with the decision to de-pathologize homosexuality, it suggests that the APA's "science" is vague at best.

Noah ty for this pov

Your tribute to this brave man is well deserved and I commend you for writing it. As with so many social gains we have made, the people that took the earliest most difficult and courageous steps are too soon forgotten. rated

Rosy just what I tht!

I'd never heard of this man. Bless him for his wisdom and compassion.

Lezlie

Leslie yes, indeed!

thanks for this. dr freedman was also quite instrumental in creating treatment modes and later treatment centers for drug addicts in the NYC area, and was in his time, a social reformer by every definition of that word.

I did not know about Dr. Freedman till reading this. I appreciate the post, and a while back posted a related article here (which I hope Dr. Freedman himself might appreciate):
http://open.salon.com/blog/daniel_geery/2011/03/18/save_a_soul_nip_a_gay_in_the_bud

lorianne wow i didn't know ty!

Daniel thanks so much!!

This guy must have made a big difference in your life

אתה צבוע ושקרן

ג 'ונתן וולפמן אוהבת ארוך, פין הומו קשה אידיוט היהודית רופפים שלו

Thanks for sharing this important person with us all. Where would we be without people willing to stand up and stop the prejudice? So many still need to be enlightened.