Charles W. Socarides, M.D. (1922 - 2005)

The busy-ness of the holidays has made it easy to miss the passing of noted anti-gay psychoanalyst Charles Socarides.  He was 83 and died on Christmas Day.  The author of books with titles like Homosexuality: A Freedom Too Far, Socarides devoted his professional life to keeping alive the days when psychiatry preyed on the unhappiness of GLBT clients by offering the promise of heterosexuality, if only queer people would stay in analysis long enough.  It was a great racket for shrinks; since gay people aren't sick, they can't get well.  Socarides claimed a "success" rate of about 35%, just high enough to guarantee that our people furnished a very good livelihood for the docs.

Socarides claimed that homosexuality was caused by castraing, angry mothers and cold, distant fathers.  This helped maintain great anxiety among the parents of GLBT folks, since the theory made them responsible for the gayness of their kids.  In an irony shared by many right-wing politicians, Socarides' own son, Richard, is gay -- and was President Clinton's liaison to the GLBT community.

Socarides' work helped make psychoanalysis a sure laugh-line for queer audiences in plays like Angels in America.  While his work lives on in the ex-gay ministries of the religious right, his views were rejected years ago by the vast majority of his professional peers.

Comments

[Robert Remillard]

As a practicing therapist, one who is intellectually devoted to truth, I would like to dismiss Charles Socarides's work and writings, however I'm not sure one can. An understanding of the earliest experiences and how they impact one's development is not well understood by the general public. The pre-Oedipal stage is very powerful and the unconscious resistances to its exploration equally powerful. I don't share Charles Socarides concern of the impact of
homosexual agendas on American culture. I do share his concern for the suffering of all individuals who are caught up in the repetition
of unconscious acting out of early conflicts.