MENTAL-HEALTH OF LESBIANS AND GAY MEN - INTRODUCTION

There has been little focus on the mental health of lesbians and gay m en in the 2 decades since homosexuality was removed as a diagnostic ca tegory from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). This special sectio n contains articles on research methodology on lesbian and gay mental health; the practice and ethics of sexual orientation conversion thera py; the mental health results of the National Lesbian Health Care Surv ey; ethnicity and sexual orientation; sexual orientation as a factor i n research on eating disorders and body dissatisfaction; and verbal an d physical abuse as stressors in the lives of lesbian and gay youths.