Medicalization of Homosexuliaty

Medicalization of Homosexuality

            Binary terms such as healthy and diseased, normal and pathological offer grounds for discrimination of those individuals who do not strictly fall into one of the two categories. Scientists who seek to study etiology of an individual’s sexual identity, often will describe non-heterosexual individuals as different, even claiming that this condition has an “abnormal” underlying neurological basis. By categorizing people into sexual groups, medical society develops an authority over sexual minorities. This practice leads to medicalization of behavior, which implies an understanding of a sexual identity in a medical frame. Medicalization of homosexuality hints at the danger of treating homosexuality as a disease, which by definition should be cured.  Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal, a 19^th century German neurologist was first to describe homosexuality as a psychiatric condition (Foucault 1978).  However, in 1973 as a result of gay liberation movement, homosexuality became demedicalized, and consequently it was taken out of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Conrad, 1992). However, there is a threat that novel research, carried in the field of neuroscience, might prompt the medicalization of homosexuality.

In 21^st century, modern scientists try to explain a sexual identity of an individual, in terms of physiological differences. In other words, they are seeking a specific mechanism to explain a behavior. The question becomes; could we face a threat that ongoing scientific research might bring us back to a framework of treating homosexuality as a medical condition? Previous research has pointed out the differences in the functioning of brain regions of heterosexuals vs. non-heterosexuals. For example, Savic et al. conducted a study, which showed differences in cerebral asymmetry and functional connectivity between heterosexual and homosexual participants (2008). The research concluded that heterosexual males and homosexual women have asymmetrical volumes while no cerebral asymmetry was shown in heterosexual women and homosexual men. When comparing the functional connectivity in amygdala region Savic et al. found that in homosexual males, the connections were more widespread from the left amygdala, while in homosexual women from the right amygdala. The study also showed cerebral connections with the contralateral amygdala, the anterior cingulate, the subcallosum, and the hypothalamus in both homosexual men and heterosexual women. However, the same pattern was not observed in homosexual women, as they displayed no connection with the contralateral amygdala (Fig.1).

Fig.1. The MR image shows the sexual dimorphism in hemispheric asymmetry and functional connections from the left and the right amygdala, in heterosexual men and women and homosexual men and women. 

Neurological studies on the topic of sex and gender indicate that sexual orientation is related to dichotomy in brain function. At this stage, it is important to ask what is the purpose of carrying out research, which aims to determine the etiology of non-heterosexuality. Will the data obtained form scientific experiments be used to help individuals with Gender Identity Disorder or will it be used to find a quick “fix” for their non-heterosexual identity? The scientific language used in the science journal articles might also be abusive of sexual minorities. This prompts scientific society to develop gender-neutral language in which words such as abnormal could be changed to different.

The history of homosexuality shows us that non-heterosexuals were first accused of immorality however, afterwards they became “not bad but mad”(Hart et al. pg. 897). In the 20^th century there was an attempt to treat the “deviance” in sexual behavior of non-heterosexuals. In the 21^st century trying to “treat” and “help”, could modern research lead to not only stigmatization but also illegitimate abuse of sexual minorities? Again, it is important to answer this question before scientists dwell into research regarding the etiology of homosexuality.

Bibliography

Conrad, P. (n.d.). Medicalization and Social Control. Annual Review of Sociology, 19, 209-232.

Foucault, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality (Vol. 78, pp. 1-133). United States of America: Random House.

Hart, G., & Wellings, K. (n.d.). Sexual behavior and its medicalization: In sickness and in health. British Medical Journal, 324, 896-900.

Savic, I., & Lindstrom, P. (2008). PET and MRI show differenced in cerebral asymmetry and functional connectivity between homo- and heterosexual subjects. PNAS, 105(27), 9403–9408-9403–9408.