Title: A resolution designating May 2, 2022, as "Dr. John E. Fryer Day".
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues

Summary:
This resolution designates May 2, 2022, as Dr. John E. Fryer Day and encourages governmental support for the teaching of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer history.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 574 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 574

         Designating May 2, 2022, as ``Dr. John E. Fryer Day''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 2022

    Mr. Casey (for himself and Ms. Baldwin) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
         Designating May 2, 2022, as ``Dr. John E. Fryer Day''.

Whereas Dr. John E. Fryer practiced psychiatry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
        from 1967 to 2003, and was a professor of psychiatry and family and 
        community medicine at Temple University School of Medicine;
Whereas, beginning in 1952, the American Psychiatric Association (referred to in 
        this preamble as the ``APA'') classified homosexuality as a mental 
        disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (referred to in this 
        preamble as the ``DSM'') and in the revised DSM-II;
Whereas, as a result of the classification and resulting therapeutic protocol, 
        homosexuals in the United States were subject to chemical castration, 
        electric shock therapy, mental institutionalization, and lobotomies;
Whereas the classification was used to demonize homosexuals and other non-
        heterosexuals as perverts to be feared and loathed and to buttress 
        homophobic statutes and regulations;
Whereas many States would not grant professional licenses to known homosexuals 
        and would revoke licenses from individuals who were later found to be 
        homosexual;
Whereas, in 1971, gay rights pioneers Frank Kameny and Barbara Gittings 
        successfully petitioned the APA for a panel on homosexuality at the APA 
        annual meeting;
Whereas Kameny and Gittings sought to have a gay psychiatrist on the panel, but 
        no one would risk losing their license and professional standing by 
        admitting publicly to being homosexual;
Whereas Dr. Fryer agreed to appear on the panel under the pseudonym of Dr. Henry 
        Anonymous, while in a mask and using a voice modulator;
Whereas Dr. Fryer's testimony on May 2, 1972, at the APA annual meeting was so 
        powerful that the APA undertook studies to determine whether the 
        classification of homosexuality as a mental illness was based on science 
        or prejudice;
Whereas, in 1973, after study and review, the members of the APA voted to 
        declassify homosexuality as a mental illness;
Whereas, as a result of Dr. John E. Fryer's courage and articulate presentation 
        as the first psychiatrist in the United States to speak publicly about 
        his homosexuality, the course of civil rights for individuals who are 
        lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this 
        preamble as ``LGBTQ'') was seminally advanced;
Whereas, during the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency 
        syndrome (referred to in this preamble ``HIV/AIDS'') crisis, Dr. John 
        Fryer was among the first, if not the first, psychiatrists to provide 
        professional services to individuals with HIV/AIDS and individuals who 
        had lost loved ones to HIV/AIDS;
Whereas Dr. John Fryer's contributions to the LGBTQ community have been adapted 
        into the celebrated theater production entitled ``217 Boxes of Dr. Henry 
        Anonymous'' and the movie ``CURED'';
Whereas the Philadelphia Historical Commission has designated the John. E. Fryer 
        House at 138 West Walnut Lane, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as historic 
        in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places;
Whereas the Philadelphia City Council proclaimed May 2, 2022, as John Fryer Day 
        in the city of Philadelphia to mark the 50th anniversary of his 
        testimony on homosexuality at the 1972 APA annual meeting and to 
        commemorate his momentous and seminal LGBTQ civil rights activism; and
Whereas Dr. John Fryer is a civil rights hero and was designated by the Equality 
        Forum as an LGBT History Month Icon in 2016: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates May 2, 2022, as ``Dr. John E. Fryer Day''; 
        and
            (2) encourages the Federal Government, States, and 
        localities to continue supporting the teaching of lesbian, gay, 
        bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this 
        resolution as ``LGBTQ'') history, including the contributions 
        of Dr. John E. Fryer and other LGBTQ civil rights heroes.
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