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Masters and Johnson were homophobes

I started watching Masters of Sex on Amazon Prime. I wasn't familiar with their research and I discovered they practiced conversion therapy. From 1968 to 1977, the Masters and Johnson Institute ran a program to convert homosexuals to heterosexuality. This program reported a 71.6% success rate over a six-year treatment period. At the time of their earlier work, homosexuality was classified as a psychological disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, a classification which was repealed in 1973.

Thomas Maier stated "that Virginia Johnson had serious reservations about Masters' conversion theory, and she suspected that, at worst, the results of the study may have been fabricated by William Masters". Clinical associate to the Masters's and psychiatrist Robert C. Kolodny also expressed reservations about the veracity of the findings in Masters's book on the topic and alleged that Masters had not kept files of the case studies cited in the book. Shortly before the book was published, he wrote Masters a two-page letter expressing Johnson's and Kolodny's reservations on the alleged successful reconversion findings and urging him to reconsider publication of the book, to no avail. As homosexuality was on the verge of being dropped from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Masters's insistence on publishing the book proved to be tone-deaf and was shunned by book critics.

by Anonymousreply 1June 16, 2020 6:25 PM

Much needed bump.

by Anonymousreply 1June 16, 2020 6:25 PM
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