A gay California man says he is "dumbfounded" after receiving a "homosexual behavior[1] " diagnosis after visiting a new doctor for a routine physical.


NBC Los Angeles reports that Matthew Moore, 45, found "homosexual behavior" listed under "chronic conditions" and "diagnosis," along with the code 302.0.


Moore, who is openly gay, noted: "When I look up code 302.0 and its sexual deviancy or mental illness, and that code has been removed or suggested heavily not to be used since 1973." He then added, "At first, I kind of laughed, I thought, 'Here's another way that gay people are lessened and made to feel less-than,' and then as I thought about it and as I dealt with it, it angered me."


The doctor's name has not been released by the media. But the Torrance Memorial Physician Network quickly sent an apologetic response to Moore's complaint, claiming they do "not view homosexuality as a disease or a chronic condition," according to media reports[2] . In addition, Moore's $30 copay was also refunded.


The American Psychological Association[3] removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, citing that "research has found no inherent association between any of these sexual orientations and psychopathology," in 1973.


Still, that didn't stop Italian scientist Gian Paolo Vanoli from claiming that vaccinations were responsible [4] for producing homosexuality.



Also on HuffPost:




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  • Bicycling


    American neurologist Graeme M. Hammond suggests bicycling as a cure for homosexuality. <a href="http://web.me.com/lookoutfilms/Ten_More_Good_Years/LGBT_History_files/timeline only.pdf" target="_hplink">He believed</a> "homosexuality was rooted in nervous exhaustion and that bicycle exercise would restore health and heterosexuality."




  • Exorcism


    In 2009 Manifested Glory Ministries came under fire when a 20-minute video posted on YouTube showed a 16 year old <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31528426/ns/us_news-faith/t/church-creates-stir-gay-exorcism-video/#.Tq8TLGVPlcg" target="_hplink">being subjected to an exorcism</a> to "cure" him of his homosexuality.

    The boy is shown writhing as church members stand on his feet, hold him under the arms and scream, "Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!"




  • Electroconvulsive Therapy


    Electroconvulsive therapy has long been a go-to tool for "curing" homosexuality and is still used to this day. In October Nathan Manske, <a href="http://www.imfromdriftwood.com/" target="_hplink">the founder and Executive Director of I'm From Driftwood</a>, a 501(c)(3) non-profit forum for true lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer stories, shared the story of Samuel Brinton on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-manske/gay-conversion-therapy_b_997330.html" target="_hplink">HuffPost Gay Voices.</a> Brinton was raised in rural Iowa and he spoke of growing up gay in a conservative, Southern Baptist family that subjected him to forced Christian conversion therapy. "We then went into the 'Month of Hell,'" Brinton explains in the video above. "The 'Month of Hell' consisted of tiny needles being stuck into my fingers and then pictures of explicit acts between men would be shown and I'd be electrocuted." <em>Clarification on November 13 at 5:45pm ET: Though Brinton uses the term "electrocuted," this actually refers to death by electric shock. The correct term is electroconvulsive therapy.</em>




  • Prostitution


    Baron Albert von Schrenck-Notzing, a German psychiatrist who practiced during the 19th century, prescribed a trip to a brothel, preceded by lots of drinking, to cure men of their homosexuality.

    Women who were "afflicted," <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Ra4bT-kE0Z4C&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=hypnosis+Albert+von+Schrenck-Notzing+homosexuality+brothel&source=bl&ots=HwcZAb_yJ-&sig=ywfKk0u0g3UbrC-Qzt61RnzT33s&hl=en&ei=9hOrTsXHLOrn0QG549WBDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_hplink">it's noted</a>, "were referred only to their husbands."




  • Hypnosis


    Hypnotism was a common tool used during the 19th century to "cure" homosexuals. When Schrenck-Notzing wasn't busy sending gay men to brothels, he was hypnotizing them.

    In 1892 the German psychiatrist <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDEQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unav.es%2Ficf%2Fmain%2Ftop%2Fdiciembre09%2FNarth_What-research-shows-homosexuality.pdf&ei=Ns-" target="_hplink">reported success in treating</a> 32 cases of "sexual perversions." Of the 32 cases, 12 were classified as "cured," meaning "the patients were completely able to 'combat fixed ideas [about homosexuality], deepen a sense of duty, self-control, and right-mindedness.'"




  • Fetal Intervention


    Günther Dorner, who worked with the Institute for Experimental Endocrinology in the middle of the 20th century, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=4-kcUVAOTWYC&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq="G%C3%BCnther+Dorner"+gay&source=bl&ots=RHRSLdreln&sig=rVv6DW4_3UnTLH9QlrCqdhrvonA&hl=en&ei=0d-uTs78E4bt0gHCmeSbCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_hplink">believed that homosexuality</a> is "determined by prenatal gendering of the brain caused by endocrinological disturbances."

    He hypothesized that if you could alter any hormonal imbalances present in the womb -- as he attempted to do with fetal rats -- homosexuality could be prevented before it even developed.




  • 'Overdosing' On Homosexuality


    In the 1960s British psychologist I. Oswald would pump a gay man full of nausea-inducing drugs before surrounding him with glasses of urine and playing audio recordings of men having sex.

    Oswald was attempting to "overdose" gay men on homosexuality in hopes that they would "<a href="http://www.glreview.com/article.php?articleid=42" target="_hplink">turn to women for relief</a>."




  • Cold Showers


    In June of 2011 Hong Kong <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hJrR2qwJP3LebrZk-UYhAXq1ZzPA?docId=CNG.fb6f66e08eae0ce02ece50a72ee19eda.1f1" target="_hplink">reportedly hired a psychiatrist</a> to give a government-sponsored training session on conversion therapy.

    Among the techniques Hong Kwai-wah suggested for "curing" homosexuality were cold showers, prayer, and abstinence.




  • Transplants


    Eugen Steinach (1861-1944), director of the Biological Institute in Vienna, believed that homosexuality was the result of hormonal imbalances.

    To prove his hypothesis, the scientist implanted sex organs in neutered rats and Guinea pigs and claimed to have conducted successful "sex change" operations on the rodents.

    Steinach's research didn't end with animals. He <a href="http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/29/turner.php" target="_hplink">also transplanted testicles</a> from heterosexual men into gay men in hopes of "remasculizing the recipient."




  • Cocaine, Strychnine, Genital Mutilation


    Physician Denslow Lewis believed that women brought up in wealthy 19th century homes could develop "sexual hyperesthesia [excessive sensitivity to stimuli]" and become lesbians.

    In order to cure these women <a href="http://www.glreview.com/article.php?articleid=42" target="_hplink">he prescribed</a> "cocaine solutions, saline cathartics, the surgical "liberation" of adherent clitorises, or even the administration of strychnine by hypodermic."

    Though he claimed that some of his patients were "cured" and became wives and mothers, one went insane and died in an asylum.




  • Praying


    "Pray the gay away!" has become the battle cry of the conversion therapy movement.

    From <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/161883/michele-bachmann-husband-ex-gay-therapy" target="_hplink">Marcus Bachmann's alleged conversion clinic</a> to <a href="http://outspokennyc.com/shoutout/scuse-me-gay-sashay-away" target="_hplink">an ex-gay iPhone app</a>, those who believe homosexuality is not only wrong but curable rely on the power of prayer to make a miracle happen.