LGBT Psychology: Historical Views

• LGBT Psychology is the study of the psychology of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

Views on LGBT in History

• In China, historical terms for same-sex relationships included "pleasures of the bitten peach" and "brokeback."
• Japan had "shudo" or "nanshuko" to describe same-sex relationships.
• In Thailand, "kathoey" refers to ladyboys.
• In the Philippines, "babaylan" and "catalonan" were women priests.
• Ancient Greek culture included pederasty, where older males were expected to have relationships with younger males.
• Some indigenous Native American societies accepted and celebrated "two-spirited" individuals, recognized in a dance called "Berdache".
• Later cultures, influenced by Abrahamic religions, viewed homosexuality as a "sin" and labeled it sodomy, a crime against nature.
• During the 19th century, homosexuals faced legal persecution, imprisonment, and commitment to mental institutions due to the perception of homosexuality as an "illness".
• Alan Turing, the Father of Modern Computing, was persecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts.
• The American Psychological Association (APA) later removed homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder.

The ABCs of LGBTQIA+

• Lesbian: Women who are emotionally and sexually attracted to other women.
• Gay: Men who are emotionally and sexually attracted to other men.
• Bisexual: Individuals who are emotionally and sexually attracted to both men and women.
• Transgender: Individuals whose gender identity differs from their physical sex assigned at birth.
• Queer: A term used by people who embrace all gender identities or who do not want to be restricted to labels like lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
• Intersex: Individuals born with sex characteristics (genitals or chromosome patterns) that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.
• Asexual: People who do not experience sexual attraction to anyone.
• Allies: Straight or heterosexual individuals who support LGBT rights.
• Plus (+): Represents all sexualities and gender identities that are not included in the LGBTQI spectrum.

Other Terms Related to Human Sexuality

• Androgynous: Individuals whose gender expression is neither distinctly male nor female.
• Gender: An internal sense of being masculine, feminine, or neither.
• Gender identity: How you feel (man, woman, or neither).
• Sexual orientation: Emotional and sexual attraction to a person.
• Sex assigned at birth: The sex assigned at birth based on sex organs.
• Cisgender: Gender identity aligns with the sex assigned at birth.
• Non-binary: Individuals who do not identify as exclusively male or female and may use "they," "them," and "theirs" as pronouns.

Transgenders

• The APA defines transgender as "an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth".
• Transgender individuals may feel discomfort with their biological sex, challenging heteronormative expectations.
• Transgender includes various identities, like transexuals.
• Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and Sex Reassignment Surgery are medical advancements that allow individuals to change their bodies to align with their gender identity.

Other Sexualities Under the Transgender Umbrella Term

• FTM (Female to Male): Individuals born female who transition to living as males.
• MTF (Male to Female): Individuals born male who transition to living as females.
• Crossdressing: Dressing as the opposite gender, but comfortable identifying with their biological sex.
• Drag kings and queens: Performers who dress as the opposite gender for entertainment.
• Genderqueer: Individuals whose gender identity does not fit within the traditional male/female binary.