APA Official Ballot for Amendments & Referendum

In February 1974, the APA's Board of Trustees decision on deletion was supported in a referendum, with 58 percent in favor of deleting “Homosexuality” in the DSM-II with a new title, “Sexual Orientation Disturbance." The trustee’s decision caused a debate within the association that required a referendum by its membership of roughly 20,000. The vote was 5,854 for the trustee’s position, 3,810 against it, and 367 abstentions; about half the membership didn’t vote.