The massacre at the gay nightclub in Orlando drove NPR to ask the big questions about homophobia: Isn't it time to classify that as a mental illness?
On Wednesday night's All Things Considered, openly gay anchor Ari Shapiro interviewed professor Gregory Herek, who operates a blog called "Beyond Homophobia." Herek is a big activist within the American Psychological Association, according to his biography: “Prof. Herek is a past chairperson of the APA Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns and has also served on the APA Task Force on Avoiding Heterosexist Bias in Research and the APA Task Force on AIDS.”
Herek urged caution on the early reports that the Orlando mass murderer might be gay, but was willing to entertain NPR's theory that societal "stigma" could have played a role in the shooting:
ARI SHAPIRO: Whether or not the killer a Pulse nightclub used gay dating apps or went to gay clubs, there are lots of old films and plays and other characters where, you know, the evil villain is a tortured gay man.
GREGORY HEREK: Right.
ARI SHAPIRO: Why is this such a pervasive theme, if it isn't, in fact, supported by the facts?
GREGORY HEREK: Well, until 1973, homosexuality was officially classified as a mental illness. And so portrayals of people who are homosexual typically hewed to that line and portrayed people as being mentally ill, being sick -- and not only being sick, but also being evil, being criminals, having all of these other negative attributes.
ARI SHAPIRO: I think at this point everybody understands that homosexuality is not a mental illness. But is there a reason to believe that intense homophobia, stigma, being told that you’re evil and wrong and you don't deserve to exist and you have to change could drive a person to be mentally ill or to commit atrocious acts?
GREGORY HEREK: Well, it is the case that many people, as they recognize their own same-sex attractions - that they have to unlearn all of the things that they've learned throughout their life about homosexuality being so evil and bad and undesirable. And they also have to learn how not to apply those attitudes to themselves and to develop a sense of positive identity. That is a process that people have to go through.
The vast majority of people who identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual go through that process successfully. There are people who have more trouble with the process. And harboring those negative societal attitudes, buying into the culture's stigma and directing those negative feelings toward oneself are known to be associated with low self-esteem, depression and other types of psychological distress.
ARI SHAPIRO: That's professor psychology Gregory Herek, psychology professor at UC-Davis who's done a lot of research and writing on sexual orientation and prejudice. Thanks for joining us.
That was only one of a series of one-sided LGBT stories that night. There was the segment profiling lesbian comedian Tig Notaro and her gay marriage in Mississippi. There was "Older Generation Of Gay Men Reflect On Orlando Massacre." And there was the story on the Republican growing (left) in office: "'My Heart Has Changed': Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox Apologizes To LGBT Community."
