Passings - Always good to remember where we've come from. The NYTimes recently took a look at the life of John Fryer, the famous Dr. H. Anonymous who addressed a 1972 convention of psychiatrists in disguise so that he could come out to his colleagues as gay. Reports indicate he rocked the audience by announcing

I am a homosexual. I am a psychiatrist. I . . . am a member of the APA. I could be any one of more than a hundred [gay] psychiatrists registered at this convention and several of us feel that it is time that real flesh and blood stand up before you and ask to be listened to and understood, insofar as that is possible.

A year later homosexuality was removed from the "official" list of mental illnesses, the DSM. Clear your calendars now, we should all celebrate the 30th anniversary of that milestone in December.