[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 57 (Thursday, March 31, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S1914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 574--DESIGNATING MAY 2, 2022, AS ``DR. JOHN E. FRYER 
                                 DAY''

  Mr. CASEY (for himself and Ms. Baldwin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 574

       Whereas Dr. John E. Fryer practiced psychiatry in 
     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1967 to 2003, and was a 
     professor of psychiatry and family and community medicine at 
     Temple University School of Medicine;
       Whereas, beginning in 1952, the American Psychiatric 
     Association (referred to in this preamble as the ``APA'') 
     classified homosexuality as a mental disorder in the 
     Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (referred to in this 
     preamble as the ``DSM'') and in the revised DSM-II;
       Whereas, as a result of the classification and resulting 
     therapeutic protocol, homosexuals in the United States were 
     subject to chemical castration, electric shock therapy, 
     mental institutionalization, and lobotomies;
       Whereas the classification was used to demonize homosexuals 
     and other non-heterosexuals as perverts to be feared and 
     loathed and to buttress homophobic statutes and regulations;
       Whereas many States would not grant professional licenses 
     to known homosexuals and would revoke licenses from 
     individuals who were later found to be homosexual;
       Whereas, in 1971, gay rights pioneers Frank Kameny and 
     Barbara Gittings successfully petitioned the APA for a panel 
     on homosexuality at the APA annual meeting;
       Whereas Kameny and Gittings sought to have a gay 
     psychiatrist on the panel, but no one would risk losing their 
     license and professional standing by admitting publicly to 
     being homosexual;
       Whereas Dr. Fryer agreed to appear on the panel under the 
     pseudonym of Dr. Henry Anonymous, while in a mask and using a 
     voice modulator;
       Whereas Dr. Fryer's testimony on May 2, 1972, at the APA 
     annual meeting was so powerful that the APA undertook studies 
     to determine whether the classification of homosexuality as a 
     mental illness was based on science or prejudice;
       Whereas, in 1973, after study and review, the members of 
     the APA voted to declassify homosexuality as a mental 
     illness;
       Whereas, as a result of Dr. John E. Fryer's courage and 
     articulate presentation as the first psychiatrist in the 
     United States to speak publicly about his homosexuality, the 
     course of civil rights for individuals who are lesbian, gay, 
     bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this 
     preamble as ``LGBTQ'') was seminally advanced;
       Whereas, during the human immunodeficiency virus and 
     acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (referred to in this 
     preamble ``HIV/AIDS'') crisis, Dr. John Fryer was among the 
     first, if not the first, psychiatrists to provide 
     professional services to individuals with HIV/AIDS and 
     individuals who had lost loved ones to HIV/AIDS;
       Whereas Dr. John Fryer's contributions to the LGBTQ 
     community have been adapted into the celebrated theater 
     production entitled ``217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous'' and 
     the movie ``CURED'';
       Whereas the Philadelphia Historical Commission has 
     designated the John. E. Fryer House at 138 West Walnut Lane, 
     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as historic in the Philadelphia 
     Register of Historic Places;
       Whereas the Philadelphia City Council proclaimed May 2, 
     2022, as John Fryer Day in the city of Philadelphia to mark 
     the 50th anniversary of his testimony on homosexuality at the 
     1972 APA annual meeting and to commemorate his momentous and 
     seminal LGBTQ civil rights activism; and
       Whereas Dr. John Fryer is a civil rights hero and was 
     designated by the Equality Forum as an LGBT History Month 
     Icon in 2016: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) designates May 2, 2022, as ``Dr. John E. Fryer Day''; 
     and
       (2) encourages the Federal Government, States, and 
     localities to continue supporting the teaching of lesbian, 
     gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (referred to in this 
     resolution as ``LGBTQ'') history, including the contributions 
     of Dr. John E. Fryer and other LGBTQ civil rights heroes.

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