Homosexuality

Abstract
The deletion of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association in 1980 marked a dramatic reversal of the judgment that homosexuality is a behavioral disorder. In the practice of medicine, especially psychiatry, it is important to distinguish between that which is abnormal and that which is not1. Reviewing the present state of knowledge about homosexuality is of interest not only for medical and historical reasons, but also because of the central role of this sexual orientation in the adaptive psychological functioning of countless people.