The deletion of homosexuality from DSM–II and subsequent diagnostic manuals is generally seen as a triumph of science over prejudice and oppression. An examination of actual circumstances of the deletion and of the changes that it engendered shows that this view overlooks crucial points. Specifically, the received version conceals the way that deletion served a nonscientific vision of justice, as well as that postdeletion practice regarding homosexuality is inescapably political and moral. These concealments help to maintain the mental health professions' claim to scientific authority, a claim that has little basis in fact. Furthermore, the deletion represented an inadvertent application of social constructionist principles to psychotherapeutic practice, one that makes clear the pragmatic value of postmodern psychologies to contemporary psychotherapy.
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