DID YOU KNOW? for December 6 – December 19, 2022:
DID YOU KNOW…Fifty years ago, psychiatrist John E. Fryer, M.D. electrified his colleagues by telling the 1972 convention of the American Psychiatric Association that he was homosexual. Fryer's announcement came at a time when homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. He wore a head-to-toe disguise, altered his voice, and used the name Dr. Anonymous when making his announcement. It was a dramatic moment in the gay rights movement, and is credited with leading the psychiatric community to no longer classify homosexuality as a mental disorder as of 1973, which led to insurance companies, the US government, and other institutions following suit.
No gay American psychiatrist had risked speaking publicly before Dr. Fryer's May 1972 appearance. Though he received a standing ovation that day as Dr. Anonymous, the next year Fryer was fired from his job at Friends Hospital for being gay.
Dr. John Fryer died in February of 2003 at the age of 65. In 2005 the American Psychiatric Association established an annual award in Fryer’s name, honoring individuals who contribute to improving the mental health of sexual minorities.
Learn more…
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/-homosexual-psychiatrist-dr-anonymous-changed-history-rcna26836
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Fryer
