ZEITGEIST VOL. 2, NO. 1 PAGE 24 specific sex.7 In the case of a gay man, this would be from insecurity and a lack of meaningful relationships with his father.7 Hadden believed that the “cure” to homosexuality involved group therapy, wherein each member plays an important role. The therapist of the group “is a parent figure who provides reassurance and protection. He accords them all significance and tolerance and permits difference of opinions among the members as well as objections to his views and when hostility is expressed there is no retaliation.”7 The therapist is intended to be the secure parent which Hadden believes many of these people do not have. This arises from Freud’s theory of the Oedipus Complex in which an individual has sexual attraction to the opposite sex parent. However, in the case of homosexuals, Hadden and Freud both believed that parental insecurity prevented them from developing that connection to the opposite sex. As for the rest of the group, they are intended to provide a type of pressure that influences the person to be ashamed of their sexual identity, however, Hadden describes it as a way to “find acceptance as they are and find themselves joined in a common cause in which they seek understanding of self and others.”7 His sentiment appears to be in support of allowing LGBTQ individuals to express themselves freely, however, the purpose is the opposite, where they must repress their emotions. Hadden describes that “[The therapy group should] tease, encourage, they scold and even ridicule each other but there is no malice,”7 which directly contradicts the idea that this is meant to be a safe and supportive community. Freud’s arguments were used in Hadden’s research and practice, therefore allowing him to justify group therapy to pressure the suppression of sexuality. Robert Galbraith Heath’s research in the 1950s, which focused on the “treatment” of homosexuality through neuromodulation, also misused the work of Freud. Heath worked as a “psychiatrist in a variety of institutions until he earned tenure at Tulane University where he was promised full academic freedom. Within his work, he focused on “research into the role of deep cortical brain regions and the biological basis of schizophrenia.”8 However, his research pivoted once he started working with patient B-19. Heath’s diagnosis for patient B-19 included “personality disorder with homosexual behavior and drug experimentation” and “temporal lobe dysfunction.”8 In his reports, he wrote that the patient requested psychological treatment for homosexuality, however, other legal accounts suggest that B-19 was only sent a court order for his drug charges.8 This means that Heath likely developed his own unauthorized trial on this patient, looking for a “cure” for his homosexuality. In regard to the treatment plan, he implanted electrodes in multiple locations throughout the brain that were known as “pleasure sites.”8 While a current was sent through the electrodes, Heath would have B-19 watch heterosexual pornography.8 This plan was developed with the accepted Freudian research which argued that homosexuality was caused by the movement of a positive association with a parent of the opposite sex to oneself. With Heath’s awareness of this “scientific” argument, he hoped that the treatment would develop a positive association with women in his brain. In hopes of further developing his heterosexual desires, he requested a court-ordered prostitute to come in and perform sexual acts with the patient. Heath claims that this caused the patient to change sexualities, however, this is entirely speculative. Another product of Freud’s research on homosexuality was Charles W. Socarides, an American psychologist who studied the connection between childhood and sexuality. Socarides especially argued that homosexuality was psychosocial maladjustment that occurred during childhood. In his book The Overt Homosexual, he regurgitates all of Freud’s arguments strictly to support his own arguments. He never brings up the fact that Freud was actively against therapies to
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