Week 6 Blog Post

The assigned reading this week, Abram J. Lewis’ “’We Are Certain of Our Own Insanity’: Antipsychiatry and the Gay Liberation Movement, 1968-1980,” detailed two trends in gay rights activism centered around the APA’s decision to include homosexuality in the DSM and their subsequent decision to remove it in a later revised edition. In it, reformers, who ultimately believe that the misclassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder was a mistake made in an otherwise sound body of work, are contrasted with radicals, who seek to reimagine the practice of psychiatry as a whole.

The rhetoric and methods of these two groups vary. The radicals take a more antagonistic approach, such as with the interruption of panels by activists who themselves taking the stage. The reformers, by contrast, are more likely to be part of or otherwise working with the organizations they seek to reform, interacting with them in a less antagonistic manner. There are differences in rhetoric as well. Reformers, for instance, would try to distance homosexuals from “transvestites,” refuting the association between the two categories and by extension throwing the latter under the bus, in a manner of speaking. [1] The radicals however cooperated closely with other social groups, demonstrating “an important set of allegiances between LGBT activism and antiracist, anticapitalist, feminist, and disability politics at the end of the social movement era.” [1]

The reform-radical divide does not just apply to the issue of gay rights, but can also be seen in my chosen issue, that of climate activism and climate justice. A reformist climate activist may seek to lobby in favor or legislation limiting emissions of carbon dioxide, for instance, working with the government or with companies to adjust policy in a way that less exacerbates the issue of climate change. A radical, on the other hand, may seek to fundamentally reorganize production so as to prevent the exacerbation of climate change, and may engage in actions such as protesting and interrupting the construction of pipelines while working with other groups, such as indigenous rights activists.

1. Abram Lewis, “’We Are Certain of Our Own Insanity’: Antipsychiatry and the Gay Liberation Movement, 1968-1980,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 25, no. 1 (January 2016): 83-113.