“The most uninhibited party they’d ever been to”: The Postwar Encounter between Psychiatry and the British Lesbian, 1945–1971

Abstract

The article discusses the debate of lesbian and gay activists and historians on the relationship between psychiatry and homosexuality in Great Britain. The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) challenged the authority of the psychiatric profession to treat homosexuality, neglecting the concept of homosexuality as mental illness. The group also argued the idea that homosexuality must be defined as social attitudes toward homosexuality that should be considered as irrational and sick. GLF activist Lisa Power contends that gay rejection of the popular culture and psychiatric diagnosis of homosexuals marked a break with homophile movement.