{{Short description|American LGBTQ activist (1935–2023)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Charles Silverstein | image = Charles Silverstein, therapist and pro-LGBT advocate, in a video conference.png | caption = Silverstein during a 2021 video conference | birth_name = Charles C. Silverstein<ref>{{Cite journal |date=November 2011 |title=Editorial Board EOV |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00918369.2011.619915 |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |language=en |volume=58 |issue=10 |pages=ebi |doi=10.1080/00918369.2011.619915 |s2cid=216112250 |issn=0091-8369|url-access=subscription }}</ref> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1935|4|23}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|1|30|1935|4|23}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | fields = Psychology | workplaces = {{plainlist| *American Psychological Association}} | alma_mater = {{plainlist| *State University of New York at New Paltz *City College of New York *Rutgers University}} | thesis_title = The Relationship of Attitude Change to the Complexity of the Environment, the Message, and Conceptual Structure<ref>{{Cite web |title=Titles of All PhD Dissertations through Spring 2008 and MA Theses from the Early Years |url=https://psych.rutgers.edu/docman-lister/history/15-apendix-a |access-date=February 12, 2023 |website=Rutgers University |page=11|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906075528/https://psych.rutgers.edu/docman-lister/history/15-apendix-a/file |archive-date=September 6, 2023}}</ref> | doctoral_advisor = Peter Suedfeld<ref>{{Cite web |title=LGBTQ+ History |url=https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/social-and-cultural-history/782-lgbt-history |access-date=February 12, 2023 |website=Rutgers Oral History Archives}}</ref> | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = {{hlist| Homosexuality and psychology | Gay men's sex education | LGBT psychology }} | awards = {{plainlist| *Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology {{small|(2011)}} *GLMA's Achievement Award {{small|(2017)}} *Lifetime Achievement Social Justice Award {{small|(2022)}}}} | signature = | footnotes = | spouse = {{marriage|Bill Bartelt|2017|2019|end=divorced}}<ref name=":4" /><ref name="TheAdvocateGLMA"/> | partner = William Bory (died 1993)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodyear |first=Sheena |date=February 8, 2023 |title=When homosexuality was considered an illness, this late psychologist fought back |work=CBC Radio |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/charles-silverstein-obit-1.6741582}}</ref> }}
'''Charles Silverstein''' (April 23, 1935 – January 30, 2023) was an American writer, therapist, and LGBT rights advocate. He was best known for his presentation as a graduate student before the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 that led to the removal of homosexuality as a mental illness from the organization's ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Charles Silverstein and the Declassification of Homosexuality as a Mental Illness Interview|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/tools-and-strategies/charles-silverstein-and-the-declassification-of-homosexuality-as-a |publisher=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=September 27, 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":4" /> He was also the founding editor-in-chief of the ''Journal of Homosexuality.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />''
==Biography== Charles C. Silverstein was born at Beth-El Hospital to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City, on April 23, 1935.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/charles-silverstein-who-helped-delist-homosexuality-as-mental-illness-dies-at-87/|title=Charles Silverstein, who helped delist homosexuality as mental illness, dies at 87|first=Yaakov|last=Schwartz|website=The Times of Israel}}</ref><ref name=interview>{{cite web |title=Charles Silverstein Interview |url=https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/military-history/64-text-html/2100-silverstein-charles-1 |website=Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences |access-date=February 4, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last=Maxwell |first=Carrie |date=February 8, 2023 |title=PASSAGES: LGBTQ activist, writer and therapist Dr. Charles Silverstein |work=Windy City Times |url=https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/PASSAGES-LGBTQ-activist-writer-and-therapist-Dr-Charles-Silverstein/74614.html |access-date=February 12, 2023}}</ref> His father was a newspaper deliveryman, and his mother was a homemaker.<ref name=":9" /> He recalled his family experiencing antisemitism early in his life.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":92">{{Citation |title=Charles Silverstein, who helped declassify homosexuality as illness, dies at 87 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/07/charles-silverstein-gay-rights-dead/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |year=2023 |access-date=February 9, 2023 |author=Langer, E. }}</ref> The family attempted to move to Los Angeles in 1946. There his father was fired; he recalled that his father's co-workers had threatened strike action if the boss would not fire "that Jew". After this, the family moved back to Brooklyn.<ref name=":8" /> Silverstein studied education at the State University of New York at New Paltz, receiving his degree in 1959.<ref name=":4" /> He then became a teacher at Chatsworth Avenue School, an elementary school in Larchmont, for six years.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8" />
He attended high school at the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan, New York City.<ref name=interview/> He then studied at the City College of New York in clinical psychology for three years, but later became a student at Rutgers University.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=interview/> He joined the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) in 1972; he later remarked that it was "an organization that many people will tell you it saved their lives, and I think it did for me."<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> He also led student protests against the Vietnam War.<ref name=":8" /> In 1973, as a Rutgers University graduate student and member of the GAA, he provided a key testimony (in which he utilized satire) to the American Psychological Association opposing the classification of homosexuality as a mental illness.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /> Silverstein was one of several speakers who attended the panel: while he provided testimony from a psychologist's perspective, Jean O'Leary gave testimony at the same event from a commoner's perspective.<ref name="TheAdvocateGLMA"/><ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rensberger |first=Boyce |date=1973-02-09 |title=Psychiatrists Review Stand on Homosexuals |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/09/archives/psychiatrists-review-stand-on-homosexuals-statement-to-be-drafted.html |access-date=2023-02-17 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In a 2003 interview he said, "I threw back at them their diagnoses over the decades and how funny it all sounds now, and pointed out that their fun had hurt a lot of people."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sbordone |first=Albert J. |date=2003-09-01 |title=An Interview with Charles Silverstein, PhD |journal=Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=49–61 |doi=10.1300/J236v07n04_05 |s2cid=216113581 |issn=0891-7140}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> That same year, Silverstein came out as gay to his mother.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Craig |date=September 16, 2021 |title=Telling the Story of When LGBTQ+ Activists Fought the Establishment and Won |work=Independent Lens |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/telling-the-story-of-when-lgbtq-activists-fought-the-establishment-and-won/ |access-date=February 12, 2023}}</ref>
He later earned his PhD in social psychology from Rutgers University in 1974.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> After graduating from Rutgers University, he opened a private psychology practice.<ref name="TheAdvocateGLMA"/> His essays and professional papers have been published widely in journals and anthologies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-08/est-ecd082511.php|title=Elsevier congratulates Dr. Charles Silverstein upon his receipt of 2 awards|website=EurekAlert!|language=en|access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref> In 1977, Silverstein and Edmund White co-authored ''The Joy of Gay Sex'', described by ''The Advocate'' as a "landmark" sex manual that has "educated generations of gay men".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Masters |first=Jeffrey |date=September 28, 2021 |title=The Joy of Gay Sex Author Charles Silverstein Goes Deep 40 Years Later |url=https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2021/9/21/joy-gay-sex-author-charles-silverstein-goes-deep-40-years-later |access-date=October 6, 2021 |website=The Advocate |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In one of his last interviews, Silverstein told the ''LGBTQ&A'' podcast in 2021, "When Ed and I first sat down to talk about the book and we made a list of the entries, it was quite clear that a majority of the entries were not about sex, it was about community and it was about relating to each other. While most people think of all the dirty pictures, what we always thought our greatest contribution was, is trying to write something that we would've wanted when we were kids, and that would be something more than just sex. That would be about community."<ref>{{Cite web|title=LGBTQ&A: Charles Silverstein: The Joy of Gay Sex on Apple Podcasts|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/charles-silverstein-the-joy-of-gay-sex/id1151561226?i=1000536854135|access-date=October 6, 2021|website=Apple Podcasts|language=en-US}}</ref>
Silverstein was the founding director of the Institute for Human Identity, and the Identity House in New York City.<ref name=":0" /> He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of Homosexuality''.<ref name=":0" /> He was a member of the American Psychological Association and was made a Fellow in 1987.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/the-lgbt-center/Why%20Dr.%20Silverstein%20Became%20Involved|title=Why Dr. Silverstein Became Involved — Hunter College|website=hunter.cuny.edu|access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref> He was also a member of Division 44 of the APA (Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues), the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA), and the Committee on Ethical Practices of NYSPA.<ref name=":1" /> He was a frequent lecturer at conventions on both the state and national levels, author of eight books and many professional papers, and has received many awards from the American Psychological Association.<ref name="American Psychologist 66.5" /><ref name=":6" />
He advocated against conversion therapy, particularly aversion therapy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1972-10-09 |title=Therapy Scored By Homosexuals |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/09/archives/therapy-scored-by-homosexuals-aversion-cure-is-protested-at.html |access-date=2023-02-17 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1995, he discussed the prospect of a cure for homosexuality to ''The New York Times'', saying: "At most, it allows a person to develop some kind of relationship with a woman that most of the time will end badly. Even if it doesn't, the gay man invariably feels like a failure."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=1995-12-24 |title=An Analyst, a Father, Battles Homosexuality |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/24/us/an-analyst-a-father-battles-homosexuality.html |access-date=2023-02-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2012, he told ''The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide'' that the "amount of damage that has been done by the psychological and psychiatry professions to help people change — I see it every day at my practice... I think aversion therapy is a form of torture. I think that psychiatrists of that period enjoyed setting up a sado-masochist relationship between them and their patients."<ref name=":92" />
Silverstein died at his home in Manhattan on January 30, 2023, at age 87;<ref>{{cite web |title=This Week 2/1/23 |url=https://gayusatv.org |website=Gay USA TV |access-date=February 2, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=February 7, 2023 |title=Charles Silverstein, 87, Dies; Helped Destigmatize Homosexuality |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/health/charles-silverstein-dead.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212050405/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/health/charles-silverstein-dead.html |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to his executor Aron Berlinger, Silverstein had been diagnosed with lung cancer.<ref>{{Citation |author=Radde, K. | year=2023 | website=NPR | title=Charles Silverstein, a psychologist who helped destigmatize homosexuality, dies at 87 | url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1155847480/charles-silverstein-psychologist-declassify-homosexuality-mental-illness | access-date=February 9, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Citation |title=Charles Silverstein, who helped declassify homosexuality as illness, dies at 87 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/07/charles-silverstein-gay-rights-dead/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |year=2023 |access-date=February 9, 2023 |author=Langer, E. }}</ref>
===Recognition=== Silverstein received the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology from the American Psychological Association in 2011, for "his 40-year career challenging the criteria of social morality as the basis for diagnosing sexual disorders", "his presentation before the American Psychiatric Association to eliminate homosexuality as a mental disorder", "his founding two counseling centers for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in order to deliver unbiased treatment", and "his founding of the ''Journal of Homosexuality''."<ref name="American Psychologist 66.5">{{cite web|title=Gold Medal Award For Life Achievement In The Practice Of Psychology: Charles Silverstein|url=http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.jvlapps.nsuok.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4ab02090-8621-466b-8ee3-34c51b15e3fd%40sessionmgr110&vid=4&hid=127|website=Ebsohost|publisher=PsycARTICLES}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2011 |title=Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Practice of Psychology: Charles Silverstein. |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-14747-004 |access-date=February 13, 2023 |website=American Psychological Association |language=en}}</ref>
He was also featured in ''Cured'', a documentary film detailing the history of declassifying homosexuality as a mental illness.<ref name=":5" /> In 2017, he received an Achievement Award from GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality.<ref name="TheAdvocateGLMA">{{Cite news |last=Ring |first=Trudy |date=February 5, 2023 |title=Remembering LGBTQ+ Rights Pioneer Charles Silverstein |work=The Advocate |url=https://www.advocate.com/people/charles-silverstein-joy-gay-sex |access-date=February 12, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=2017 GLMA Achievement Award Recipients |work=GLMA |url=https://www.glma.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=1097&nodeID=1 |access-date=February 12, 2023}}</ref> In 2022, he received the Lifetime Achievement Social Justice Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Humm |first=Andy |date=February 9, 2023 |title=Dr. Charles Silverstein, pioneering gay therapist and activist, dies at 87 |work=Gay City News |url=https://gaycitynews.com/dr-charles-silverstein-gay-therapist-and-activist-dies-at-87/ |access-date=February 12, 2023}}</ref>
==Works== ===Books=== *''The Joy of Gay Sex'', co-authored with Edmund White (1977).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Masters |first=Jeffrey |date=February 3, 2023 |title=Charles Silverstein, an Author of The Joy of Gay Sex, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.advocate.com/people/joy-gay-sex-charles-silverstein |access-date=February 6, 2023 |website=The Advocate |language=en}}</ref> *''A Family Matter: A Parents' Guide to Homosexuality'' (1977).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silverstein |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-WGAAAAIAAJ |title=A Family Matter: A Parents' Guide to Homosexuality |date=1977 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-057429-8 |language=en}}</ref> *''Man to Man: Gay Couples in America'' (1982).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silverstein |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1p7DSAf7aOsC |title=Man to Man: Gay Couples in America |date=1982 |publisher=Quill |isbn=978-0-688-00803-1 |language=en}}</ref> *''[https://sk.sagepub.com/books/homosexuality/n7.xml Psychological and Medical Treatments of Homosexuality]'', published as a chapter in ''[https://sk.sagepub.com/books/homosexuality Homosexuality: Research Implications for Public Policy]'' (1991). *''Gays, Lesbians and Their Therapists: Studies in Psychotherapy'' (1991).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silverstein |first=Charles |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-97040-000 |title=Gays, lesbians, and their therapists: Studies in psychotherapy |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1991 |access-date=February 6, 2023}}</ref> *''The New Joy of Gay Sex'', co-authored with Felice Picano (1992).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Silverstein |first1=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCcgAQAAIAAJ |title=The New Joy of Gay Sex |last2=Picano |first2=Felice |date=1992 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-016813-1 |language=en}}</ref> *''History of Treatment'', published as a chapter in ''Textbook of Homosexuality and Mental Health'' (1996). *''The Origins of the Gay Psychotherapy Movement'', published as a chapter in ''A Queer World: The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader'' (1997). *''The Initial Psychotherapy Interview: A Gay Man Seeks Treatment'' (2011).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silverstein |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lx4TDAEACAAJ |title=The Initial Psychotherapy Interview: A Gay Man Seeks Treatment |date=February 2, 2011 |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-323-16522-8 |language=en}}</ref> *''For the Ferryman: A Personal History'' (2011), Second Edition (2022).<ref name=":2" />
===Journal articles=== *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v02n02_06 "Even Psychiatry Can Profit From Its Past Mistakes"]'' (Winter 1976–1977). ''Journal of Homosexuality''. '''2''' (2): pages 153–158. *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v02n03_02 Homosexuality and the Ethics of Behavioral Intervention: Paper 2]'' (Spring 1977). ''Journal of Homosexuality''. '''2''' (3): pages 205–211. *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v09n04_03 The Ethical and Moral Implications of Sexual Classification: A Commentary]'' (1984). ''Journal of Homosexuality''. '''9''' (4): pages 29–38. Also published as a chapter in [https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315804378-3/ethical-moral-implications-sexual-classification-charles-silverstein ''Gay Personality And Sexual Labeling''] (1985). *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v15n01_13 The Borderline Personality Disorder and Gay People]'' (1988). ''Journal of Homosexuality''. '''15''' (1–2): pages 185–212. Also published as a chapter in ''The Treatment of Homosexuals With Mental Health Disorders'' (1988) and ''Affirmative Dynamic Psychotherapy with Gay Men'' (1993). *''[https://academic.oup.com/sw/article-abstract/38/2/144/1888346 Facilitating Support Groups for Professionals Working with People with AIDS]'' (March 1993). ''Social Work''. '''38''' (2): pages 144–151. Co-authored with Arnold H. Grossman. *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J236v07n03_03 The Religious Conversion of Homosexuals: Subject Selection Is the 'Voir Dire' of Psychological Research]'' (2003). ''Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy''. '''7''' (3): pages 31–53. *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J236v11n03_02 Wearing Two Hats: The Psychologist as Activist and Therapist]'' (2007). ''Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy''. '''11''' (3–4): pages 9–35. Also published as a chapter in ''[https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315877518-4/wearing-two-hats-charles-silverstein Activism and LGBT Psychology]'' (2007). *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19359700802111635 Are You Saying Homosexuality Is Normal?]'' (October 11, 2008). ''Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health''. '''12''' (3): pages 277–287.
===Letters and editorials=== *''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v01n01_01 Editorial]'' (1974). ''Journal of Homosexuality''. '''1''' (1): pages 5–7. *''[https://archive.org/details/sim_siecus-report_1980-01_8_3/page/6 Book Review For "Positively Gay"]'' (January 1980). Book Reviews. ''SIECUS Report''. SIECUS. '''8''' (3): pages 6–7. *''[https://archive.org/details/sim_siecus-report_1981-09_10_1/page/22 Book Review For "Counseling With Gay Men and Women: A Guide For Facilitating Positive Life-Styles"]'' (September 1981). Book Reviews. ''SIECUS Report''. SIECUS. '''10''' (1): pages 22–23. *''[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-008-9442-x The Implications of Removing Homosexuality from the DSM as a Mental Disorder]'' (November 11, 2008). Letter to the Editor. ''Archives of Sexual Behavior''. '''38''' (2): pages 161–163.
==See also== *LGBT culture in New York City *LGBT people in science *List of LGBT people from New York City * NYC Pride March
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{Cite news |last=Blakemore |first=Erin |date=June 9, 2021 |title=Zapping: The boisterous protest tactic that ignited early LGBTQ activism |work=National Geographic |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/zapping-the-boisterous-protest-tactic-that-ignited-early-lgbtq-activism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609195315/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/zapping-the-boisterous-protest-tactic-that-ignited-early-lgbtq-activism |archive-date=June 9, 2021 |access-date=February 13, 2023}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110719070440/http://www.ihi-therapycenter.org/ Institute for Human Identity]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverstein, Charles}} Category:1935 births Category:2023 deaths Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American writers Category:American gay writers Category:American LGBTQ rights activists Category:American LGBTQ scientists Category:American self-help writers Category:Gay scientists Category:Jewish American activists Category:Rutgers University alumni Category:State University of New York at New Paltz alumni Category:City College of New York alumni Category:Gay Jews Category:LGBTQ psychologists Category:High School of Art and Design alumni