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.