On 6 October 2021, in collaboration with the Modern British Studies Centre, BRIHC hosted a roundtable discussion on the histories and legacies of Psychological ‘treatments’ for homosexuality and gender non-conformity.
The session featured Kate Davison (History, Goldsmiths), Tommy Dickinson (Mental Health Nursing, King’s College London), Katherine Hubbard (Sociology, Surrey), and Helen Spandler (Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire), who discussed their research into the history of such ‘treatments’ and the traumatic legacies created by such interventions.
- View a recording of the session passcode: 3qb.zRu&
The panellists have kindly suggested a range of readings and resources to help you further explore the issues and histories raised in the discussion:
Research by panellist Kate Davison:
- Davison, Kate, ‘Cold War Pavlov: Homosexual aversion therapy in the 1960s’, History of the Human Sciences, 34:1 (2021), 89-119.
Research by panellist Tommy Dickinson:
- ‘Curing Queers’: Mental nurses and their patients, 1935-74 (Manchester, 2015).
Research by panellist Katherine Hubbard:
- Queer Ink: A Blotted History Towards Liberation (Abingdon, 2020).
- Sexual Offence, Diagnosis, and Activism:A British History of LGBTIQ Psychology (open access)
Research by panellist Helen Spandler:
- Spandler, H and Carr, S. (forthcoming) ‘Lesbian and bisexual women’s experiences of aversion therapy in England’. History of Human Sciences.
- Spandler, H. (2020) The shocking ‘treatment’ to make lesbians straight. Welcome Collection Stories.
- Spandler, H, Carr, S. (2020) A history of lesbian politics and the psy professions. Feminism and Psychology
- Carr, S. Spandler, H. (2019). Hidden from history? A brief modern history of the psychiatric “treatment” of lesbian and bisexual women in England. The Lancet Psychiatry. Volume 6, Issue 4: 289-290
Other relevant research and resources:
- LGBT survey from 2017 that Katherine Hubbard mentioned.
