A Pentagon document still lists homosexuality as a mental defect akin to retardation and impulse control disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned the position.

  • News report
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    • AP:

    A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.

    The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.

    Critics said the reference underscores the Pentagon’s failing policies on gays, and adds to a culture that has created uncertainty and insecurity around the treatment of homosexual service members, leading to anti-gay harassment.

    Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeremy M. Martin said the policy document is under review.

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