Dr. Saul Levin on the Progress and Challenges in Health Care for the LGBT Community

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - March 18, 2014 - PRLog -- In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the decision by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to remove homosexuality from the list of disorders in the diagnostic manual known as DSM, Saul Levin, MD, MPA, the openly gay CEO and Medical Director of the APA, expresses how "incredibly proud" of the organization he is for taking that stand, in an interview in LGBT Health (http://www.liebertpub.com/lgbt), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The interview (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/lgbt.2014.0011) is available free on the LGBT Health (www.liebertpub.com/lgbt) website.

In the interview conducted by LGBT Health Associate Editor, A. Evan Eyler, MD, MPH, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Dr. Levin discusses how clinicians can help their patients receive the care they need and cope with the discrimination and stigma they may experience when they disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity. He emphasizes the importance of LBGT individuals coming out to their health care providers to receive optimal health care and allowing documentation of their LGBT status in electronic medical records to facilitate research into the health needs of their communities.

“In the 40 years since the declassification of homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder, American medicine, mental health care, and society have come a long way toward accepting homosexuality as a natural variant of human sexuality,” says Editor-in-Chief, William Byne, MD, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. “We still have a long way to go, however, in decreasing the stigma, discrimination, and barriers to health care experienced by sexual orientation and gender identity minority persons. The interview insightfully addresses what has been accomplished, what remains to be done, and the work needed at multiple levels to accomplish it.”

About the Journal
Spanning a broad array of disciplines LGBT Health (www.liebertpub.com/lgbt) brings together the LGBT research, medical care and health care, and advocacy communities to address current challenges and improve the health, well-being, and clinical outcomes of LGBT populations. The Journal publishes original research, review articles, clinical reports, case studies, legal and policy perspectives, and much more. LGBT Health is published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the LGBT Health (www.liebertpub.com.lgbt) website.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert Inc., publishers (www.liebertpub.com) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative medical and biomedical peer-reviewed journals, including AIDS Patient Care and STDs, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, Journal of Women’s Health, and Population Health Management. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers pioneered the first journal on AIDS in 1983. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s more than 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert Inc., publishers (www.liebertpub.com) website.