Los Angeles, California

In October of 1970, the researcher M.P. Feldman was giving a film presentation on his work with queer aversion therapy. Part of the way through this film, protestors from the Gay Liberation Front gathered in the conference hall. They forced their way onto stage, took over the microphone, and demanded to hold a meeting with the presenting researchers. After a long stand-off that included police presence, a meeting was agreed on, so that the Gay Liberation Front could have a chance to voice their grievances with cruel aversion therapy. This demonstration was a turning point in the equality of queer Americans. The conversation about the proper treatment of queer patients was opened, and eventually led to homosexuality being removed from the American Psychiatric Association's list of mental disorders. Once this distinction was gone, conversion of all forms rapidly lost popularity, and aversion therapy saw many changes in its practice. In addition, the news coverage of the protest drew national attention to the immorality of involuntary aversion therapy. 

Source: Marston, A. R. “Reflections After a Confrontation with the Gay Liberation Front.” Professional Psychology, vol. 5, no. 4, 1974, pp. 380–384. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0021325 

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Latitude: 34.049245976656
Longitude: -118.243652209640

Timeline of Events Associated with Los Angeles, California

Date Event Manage
circa. 1940 to circa. 1973

Homosexual Aversion Therapy

Homosexual aversion therapy notaby began in the early 1940s. Homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality were viewed as sexual deviances caused by psychological maladaption. Queer patients were often taken to mental asylums involuntarily by family to be "cured", and aversion therapy was one of the many methods scientists attempted to do this. It was believed that conditioning patients to associate the sex they found attractive with unpleasant stimulus would cause them to lose their attraction and turn heterosexual. Doctors would take patients to viewing rooms and project images of people each patient would be attracted to. If they showed any signs of attraction or interest in the picture, the doctors would administer the unpleasant stimulus. The most notable of these stimuli was electroshock waves. Injecting drugs into the patient to cause nausea and vomiting was also common. Eventually, patients would associate these images with the shocks or drugs, and would be averse to looking at the screen. Continued exposure showed that, after time, this dislike would also be applied to real time, and patients would get upset looking at any member of their once-preferred sex.  

The cruelty of aversion therapy and other conversion methods eventually became a talking point in the psychological field. Human rights activits began to work for protections of queer people and make involuntary conversion illegal. As the century progressed, aversion therapy waned in popularity. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Associaton removed homosexuality from its list of diagnosable mental disorders. Treatment for the "condition" was no longer sanctioned. While this did not end the practice of aversion therapy, it did limit it, and the controversy around the practice made it extremely unpopular as more time passed. Today, queer aversion therapy is illegal in many states or countries. It is still used in some states, and has been expanded to try and deter sexual offenders like pedophiles.

Sources:

Blakemore, Erin. "Gay Conversion Therapy's Disturbing 19th Century Origins." History.com, 2019, www.history.com/news/gay-conversion-therapy-origins-19th-century. Accessed 7 October 2020.

Chenier, Elise. “Aversion Therapy.” GLBTQ Archive, 2015, www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/aversion_therapy_S.pdf. Accessed 7 October 2020.

Editors of Encylopedia Britannica. Aversion Therapy. 23 Nov. 2018, www.britannica.com/science/aversion-therapy. Accessed 9 October 2020.

 A patient is shown being strapped into an electroshock therapy table.