Looking back at that period, you can see that it is a time where it is-it's also the period where people start to talk about generation gaps. Exploded in many ways, because psychology wasn't able to keep a culture that was separate from the many social movements that were characterizing the American political scene at this point in time, and not least, of course, the civil rights movement and the protests against the Vietnam War. That was a really interesting period of incredible change where issues about social justice, issues about inequality, came to the fore much more than that had done. One of the reasons why I chose that time frame was to try to make a contribution to a much larger movement in the history of psychology to think about what has the recent history of psychology been? What's been happening in more recent decades? And sort of changed the narrative focus of how we do things.Īnd was there a period in which things changed in psychology? Absolutely. And when we teach the history of psychology to our students, the 1970s is a very, very far away period. I think there is a number of us who were sort of thinking, 'Well we clearly don't live in the 1970s anymore. Very often, that's something that we kind of encounter as historians of psychology. That framework of thinking, where the past ends and the present begins somewhere around the mid-1970s, is not something that's unique to this area of psychology.

It often ends up in something like the Stonewall uprising, and then the 1973 decision by the American Psychiatric Association to begin to de-pathologize homosexuality.

So very often, you see a broad brush stroke starting with Freud, proceeding through Kinsey studies, maybe mentioning Evelyn Hooker and her work in the 1950s. That was because very often when I read histories about the history of sexuality and psychology, the ones to which we had access, they very often ended in that period. There was a strategic decision on my part to start in that time period. Was it also a turning point in how the field of psychology regarded sexual minorities? You begin your book in the 1970s just before the Stonewall uprising in New York, which is considered to be the beginning of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. Mills: You're a historian of psychology, as well as a psychologist. In addition to his work in the history of psychology, he conducts experimental research in areas including auditory gaydar and how beliefs about the biological basis of sexual orientation influence prejudice and discrimination. He was also guest editor of a special issue of APA's journal American Psychologist entitled “50 Years Since Stonewall, the Science and Politics of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.”

His 2018 book, “A Recent History of Lesbian and Gay Psychology, From Homophobia to LGBT,” traces the psychological research on these issues since the 1970s. Peter Hegarty, a professor of psychology at the Open University in the United Kingdom, where he studies the history of sexuality and gender in psychology. Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life. How has psychological research reflected and responded to these changes? How has it contributed to the public discussion of prejudice and discrimination against sexual minorities? When has it helped, and when has it hindered the drive toward equality for LGBTQ people, especially in the United States? What role has it played in moving the needle in the fight for LGBTQ rights, especially in our courts? The focus of LGBTQ activism has evolved over the years, with the issues and political pressures of the day-from the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, to the military's 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' rule in the 1990s, to the fight for marriage equality in the early 2000s, and the focus on transgender rights today. But it also called out areas where LGBTQ rights are being threatened, including in dozens of states where legislators have introduced bills this year targeting transgender youth. This year, President Biden marked the occasion with an official proclamation that touted progress on issues such as marriage and workplace equality. Kim Mills: June is LGBTQ Pride Month, marked by marches and commemorations to celebrate LGBTQ culture and advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in the US and around the world.

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