Well, that's egg (or some other gooey, white substance) on my face.
Christopher E. Doss Moscow, Russian Federation
--- On Fri, 6/5/09, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Surrealists and homosexuality
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 9:31 AM
>
> On Jun 5, 2009, at 9:19 AM, Chris Doss wrote:
>
> > He thought things like homosexuality were disorders to
> be cured, didn't he?
>
> Not really. He thought we're all to some degree queer, and
> that heterosexuality is not "natural," but something that
> needs to be explained. This letter, written to a woman who
> expressed anguish to him that her son was gay, is a pretty
> remarkable document for someone of his time:
>
> <http://ctrloptcmd.com/archives/564/freud-on-homosexuality/>
>
> I gather from your letter that your son is a homosexual. I
> am most impressed by the fact that you do not mention this
> term yourself in your information about him. May I question
> you, why you avoid it? Homosexuality is assuredly no
> advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no
> degradation, it cannot be classified as an illness; we
> consider it to be a variation of the sexual function
> produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many
> highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times
> have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among
> them (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.). It is a
> great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime, and
> cruelty too. If you do not believe me, read the books of
> Havelock Ellis.
>
> By asking me if I can help, you mean, I suppose, if I can
> abolish homosexuality and make normal heterosexuality take
> its place. The answer is, in a general way, we cannot
> promise to achieve it. In a certain number of cases we
> succeed in developing the blighted germs of heterosexual
> tendencies which are present in every homosexual, in the
> majority of cases it is no more possible. It is a question
> of the quality and the age of the individual. The result of
> treatment cannot be predicted.
>
> What analysis can do for your son runs in a different line.
> If he is unhappy, neurotic, torn by conflicts, inhibited in
> his social life, analysis may bring him harmony, peace of
> mind, full efficiency whether he remains a homosexual or
> gets changed. . . .
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