Anecdotal evidence of the testimonies of patients who received treatments for sexual deviations and medical attitudes towards them are scattered in the recorded accounts of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, intersex and queer/questioning (GLBTIQ) people. This book examines the plight of men who were institutionalised in British mental hospitals to receive 'treatment' for homosexuality and transvestism, and the perceptions and actions of the men and women who nursed them. It explores why the majority of the nurses followed orders in administering the treatment - in spite of the zero success-rate in 'straightening out' queer men - but also why a small number surreptitiously defied their superiors by engaging in fascinating subversive behaviours. The book is specifically about the treatments developed for sexual deviations in the UK. Transvestism was also treated fairly widely; however, not to the same extent as homosexuality. After an examination of the oppression and suppression of the sexual deviant, the introduction of aversion therapies for sexual deviance is considered. During the 1930s-1950s, mental health care witnessed a spirit of 'therapeutic optimism' as new somatic treatments and therapies were introduced in mental hospitals. The book also examines the impact these had on the role of mental nurses and explores how such treatments may have essentially normalised nurses to implement painful and distressing 'therapeutic' interventions . The book interprets the testimonies of these 'subversive nurses'. Finally, it explores the inception of 'nurse therapists' and discusses their role in administering aversion therapy.
argue that this action served to end more than a century of medical
homophobia and constitutes a historic date and a powerful symbol
for members of the GLBTIQ community. Therefore, on 17 May
every year, this decision is remembered when ‘The International Day
Against Homophobia and Transphobia’ is celebrated.10
1 Cook, A Gay History of Britain, p. 195.
2 Drescher and Merlino, American Psychiatry and Homosexuality, p. 127; Bayer,
Homosexuality and American Psychiatry, p. 204.
3 Jivani, It’s not Unusual, p. 189.
evidence of the testimonies of patients who received
treatments for sexual deviations and medical attitudes towards them
are scattered in the written and recorded accounts of gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgendered, intersex and queer/questioning (GLBTIQ)
people.11 However, with the notable exception of the joint work of
Glenn Smith, Michael King and Annie Bartlett,12 there is a paucity
of academic literature exploring the experiences of individuals who
were subjected to these treatments. In 2004, Smith and his colleagues
conducted oral history interviews with twenty
Interstitial queerness and the Ismaili diaspora in Ian Iqbal Rashid’s
poetry and films
Alberto Fernández Carbajal
Traditional Islam recognizes the validity of only the heterosexual relationship. A number of Muslim groups and leaders have spoken out against homosexuality. However, there are Muslims who self-identify as gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered/intersex/questioning (GLBTIQ) […] In talking with a member of Min al-Alaq [a Canadian LGBTIQ support group for Muslims whose Qur’anic name means ‘from the same cloth’], I was reminded of the tremendous religious isolation that comes with being a gay Muslim in Toronto. (Hussain, 2004 , p. 372)
Membership of a