homosexuality is a mental disorder

You claim that homosexuality is a mental disorder, following that it does not fit the "theory of evolution, and therefore makes no logical sense for one of the same sex to be attracted to another person of the same sex." To make it clear, homosexuality, whether or not a mental disorder, does not follow that it has to fit the "theory of evolution," nor does it have to make any "logical sense." You are claiming: 1.Homosexuality is a mental disorder. 2.Homosexuality does not fit the "theory of evolution." 3.Homosexuality makes no "logical sense." I will begin by refuting the first claim, "Mental disorder: (n) a mental or bodily condition marked by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions, to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual-called mental illness." Merriam-Webster.com I believe the definition you provided to be inadequate, so I have provided my own. In the 19th century, homosexuality was considered pathological. This view stems from religious persecution, and intolerance, during the time. Still today homosexuality carries with it the stigma that it is an immoral act, a mental disorder, or as you would say "makes no logical sense." During the 20th century, Sigmund Freud and Havelock Ellis recognized that homosexuality was not pathological, but in fact "inborn." Ellis (1901) argued that homosexuality was inborn and therefore not immoral, that it was not a disease, and that many homosexuals made outstanding contributions to society (Robinson, 1976). During the 1940's and 1950's much effort was made in disproving this stigmatized view of homosexuality. Alfred Kinsey's studies of homosexuality shifted the prevailing view that homosexuality was pathological to a view that homosexuality is based on a "normal variant of human sexuality." The "Kinsey Reports" found that 37% of males and 13% of females had at least some overt homosexual experience to orgasm. Other studies during this time, found that homosexuality prevailed in all cultures, and was also found among many non-human species. From these studies came the conclusion that homosexuality, is in fact, a "natural" and "inborn" occurrence, and therefore should not be classified as a mental disorder. Another, more recent study, was performed by Evelyn Hooker. Evelyn Hooker also disagreed with the prevailing view that homosexuality was pathological. She successfully disproved this claim by showing that there is no apparent difference between a heterosexual or a homosexual, in regards to their psychological adjustments. In a study conducted by Evelyn Hooker and her colleagues, she supplied a group of homosexuals and put them up for evaluation, against unaware psychiatrists. After extensive evaluation these patients were found to have no apparent differences than any other heterosexual. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). After extensive research of homosexuality, for the better part of three decades, APA found that because homosexuality did not "impair" patients in any way, nor caused patients inability to function and/or perform as active members in society, APA board of directors concluded that homosexuality was, in fact, not a mental disorder. Homosexuality has been removed from the DSM since 1973 to present day. Hundreds of studies have been published to disprove the claim that homosexuality is a mental disorder. I believe that we need to stop stigmatizing homosexuality, through religious beliefs, intolerance, and persecution. Because homosexuality is not the "norm," it does not make it wrong, nor does it make it still acceptable to deem it as a mental disorder. It obviously is not classified a mental disorder by the APA. Nor classified a disorder in the DSM. I have supplied ample evidence to disprove the claim that homosexuality is a mental disorder. Thus concluding that homosexuality is not pathological, but in fact, "natural" and/or "inborn."