Homosexuality a Mental Illness?

[SoulSearcher]

I know up until the 70s, most American doctors considered homos to be mentally ill, and a majority now hold alternate views. I am homosexual but I have to confess that I sometimes wonder if there was any validity to these outragious claims from the past. I mean, this morning I discovered that Craigslist has personals as well, I thought it was only for selling things. Anyways, my jaw dropped when I saw the kinds of ads homosexuals were posting on it. If you've never seen it, check this out:
Men Seeking Men: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/m4m/

Now compare to this:
Men Seeking Women: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/m4w/
or even Women Seeking Men: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/w4m/

What are your thoughts on this? It really shocked me to see the comparison. Are homosexuals really mentally ill. Is promiscuity and sexual obsession a mental illness? Are a majority of homosexuals overly sexual? If so, was it always like that, or only in the recent decades?

 

[gsdx]

Are homosexuals really mentally ill. Is promiscuity and sexual obsession a mental illness? Are a majority of homosexuals overly sexual? If so, was it always like that, or only in the recent decades?

Some are. Most are not.

The reason the 'experts' maintained that homosexuality was an illness was so they could cure it. Some still hold with that notion and I would question their abilities as professionals.

Promiscuity and sexual obsessions aren't mental illnesses unless they lead to criminal and/or deviant behaviour such as paedophilia or rape or murder, etc.

Homosexuals aren't, I believe, 'overly sexual'. If you're asking that because of the ads at Craig's list, I think people are just trying to get themselves noticed by a rather limited audience.

 

[USEDCAR]

If homosexuals are mental ill why do they have driver license and Hold regular jobs?

I think it depends on the people some are sex freaks and some are not.

Same with girls i see the horniest girls in the world.

 

[SoulSearcher]

Thanks for your thoughts, I just was a bit taken aback when I saw that contrast in the nature of the ads.

 

[Jeimuzu]

No. An illness makes like more unpleasant, more difficult, or damages your body in some way.

It's more of a mental difference.

 

[gsdx]

If homosexuals are mental ill why do they have driver license and Hold regular jobs?

Jeffrey Dahmer made chocolates. John Wayne Gacy Jr. was a contractor. Both had driving licenses.

 

[smirnoff-ice]

am i the only one thinking that there are unusually stupid stupid stupid threads created lately?

 

[evil_danger]

If homosexuality is a mental illness then that would mean that being straight or any sexual feelings are a mental illness.

Sexual attraction isn't something that can be judged like that, some straight guys like chunky girls, does that mean they're mentally ill too, what about the straight guys who only like ginger girls?.

The personals on that sight are simple. on average most men think about sex, a gay guy can be much more open about that and say on a personals board "want my dick sucked off now" because another guy is gonna be sat there thinking "I wanna suck some dick now"

But if a straight guy posted that on personals then most likely girls are gonna ignore it so they have to say something a bit more sweet and innocent.

I personally think guys and girls use personals for different things, men for sex women for commitment and although that isn't always true it probably is for most.

Gay guys can generally be much more open about that fact when they're in the same compony because they're not gonna get a rabble of people calling them "pervs".

 

[3stripes]

So wanting to find someone else for sex and saying so is a sign of mental illness ...

but wanting to meet someone for sex and instead saying that you enjoy romantic walks, dinners and sporting activities is to be held up as the ideal in mental health?

I think someone is more than a tad confused as to what is good mental health.

 

[tmb1]

Alot can be said of the fact that most gay people were never taught how to be be and feel normal. And when I say normal I mean normally gay, just feel good about themselves and have a normal life that entails dating same sex and not have it be judged and not hidden. So alot of these hookups are from people who just want to get off, not really knowing how to go beyond that. If anything that is a societal illness/sickness that is getting better the more people come out of the closet.

 

[rareboy]

am i the only one thinking that there are unusually stupid stupid stupid threads created lately?

No.................you're not alone.

 

[SoulSearcher]

Are we just using this as an excuse that "men are just sexual beings", or should we just do some self-examination and perhaps try to see how far we have come? Should we let our senses and sense gratification rule over us or should we try to rule over all of our senses? When sex is taken so lightly, could people really learn what true love can be? Suppressing sexual desires is not a good thing, but treating sex as if it was like having a cuppa tea is a good thing?

 

[hermanding]

gays are sick no more than straights. it is just a different preferencia. ay. the hatred this stuff promotes
ding

 

[Spellbound]

Mental illness isn't a sexuality thing.


And 'scientists' used to think caucasians were superior to all other races, and men were smarter than women.

 

[StlKj]

Are we just using this as an excuse that "men are just sexual beings", or should we just do some self-examination and perhaps try to see how far we have come? Should we let our senses and sense gratification rule over us or should we try to rule over all of our senses? When sex is taken so lightly, could people really learn what true love can be? Suppressing sexual desires is not a good thing, but treating sex as if it was like having a cuppa tea is a good thing?

As mentioned above, society has an illness in how it treats homosexuals still, although it's certainly getting better in many areas. Because of the societal issues, homosexuals still often do not get to partake in the normal dating/peer relationships at the age in which most others do. Sexuality is usually a hidden thing, attached to fear and/or doubt, and therefore healthy ways of expressing it and discovering boundaries don't exist for many. When it stops being news that a gay kid got elected prom king or queen with his/her gay date, then we'll have made more progress.

Until then, gay men are left to create their own rituals and practices around discovering themselves and exploring and acting out their desires. If we have had to do so, then judging our actions according to heterosexual standards is comparing apples and oranges.

 

[bankside]

When a person accepts their own same-sex desire, they usually resist it at first.

Even finally accepting it is seen as "giving in" by some people. Not many people can just let it be and enjoy being themselves as a gay person without going through a process of self-reflection.

Either way, to be gay is to break a taboo, either internal in one's own mind, or external in the minds of society around you. The trouble is, some people break one taboo, and then feel compelled to break them all. Monogamy? Stability? They can't stop questioning any of them once they start.

I however, found it much easier to come out as being gay when I finally realized that if I came out as being gay, there was no requirement to also have to come out as promiscuous.

 

[3stripes]

Are we just using this as an excuse that "men are just sexual beings", or should we just do some self-examination and perhaps try to see how far we have come? Should we let our senses and sense gratification rule over us or should we try to rule over all of our senses? When sex is taken so lightly, could people really learn what true love can be? Suppressing sexual desires is not a good thing, but treating sex as if it was like having a cuppa tea is a good thing?

So by the logic of your opening post treating sex as if it were like having a cup of tea = mental illness.

You do not seem to be explaining your attitude in your opening post very well.

Or is it that I smell a heady whiff of internalised homophobia?

 

[rareboy]

Maybe gay Marriage and legally recognised gay relationships will encourage monogamy?

Maybe bringing up children will encourage monogamy?

It hasn't worked for straights. More than half the marriages end in divorce.

Male promiscuity is as much testoerone driven as anything.

I also smell the rank perfume of self-hating homophobia.

 

[kallipolis]

Self loathing queers, are a common revelation on this board.

Perhaps the willingness of so many closeted homosexual persons to vent their frustrations with their uninvited "condition," pays testimony to the therapeutic value of discharging their anger filled fears on a forum such as this.

 

[star-warrior]

Maybe gay Marriage and legally recognised gay relationships will encourage monogamy?

Maybe bringing up children will encourage monogamy?

Marriage and being monogamous aren't linked inseparably. Why the hell do so many married people get divorced? Because their partner has had some affair with someone else.

When couple find a pregnancy is in the offing, quite often they will refrain from sex with each other for the unborn baby's sake. Although doctors say that having sex during a pregnancy is possible, some folks like to err on the safe side. If they don't masturbate, then some men will seek sexual gratification outside of their marriage. Bringing up children will not encourage monogamy. Commitment to the one and only one you love will be why you're monogamous.