Sigmund Freud, born in Austria in the mid-1800s, liked to have patients lie down on the couch and talk about sex. Adorable! But Freud was more than just the father of the Oedipus complex. He was also a yesteryear Dear Abby, where the forlorn would write him notes begging his advice. Like the mother who told him about her gay son, and what should she do about it?
In 1935, just four years before his death (and nearly 75 years ago), Freud wrote this letter back — striking because, even back then, the idea of "conversion therapy" (which didn't have a name yet) was believed to be bunk by the psychoanalysis founder. Makes sense, given Freud thought everyone was at least a little bit gay.
[Truth Tree, via]
April 9th 1935
PROF. DR. FREUD
Dear Mrs [Erased],
I gather from your letter that your son is a homosexual. I am most impressed by the fact that you do not mention this term yourself in your information about him. May I question you why you avoid it? Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them. (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime – and a cruelty, too. If you do not believe me, read the books of Havelock Ellis.
By asking me if I can help, you mean, I suppose, if I can abolish homosexuality and make normal heterosexuality take its place. The answer is, in a general way we cannot promise to achieve it. In a certain number of cases we succeed in developing the blighted germs of heterosexual tendencies, which are present in every homosexual in the majority of cases it is no more possible. It is a question of the quality and the age of the individual. The result of treatment cannot be predicted.
What analysis can do for your son runs on a different line. If he is unhappy, neurotic, torn by conflicts, inhibited in his social life, analysis may bring him harmony, peace of mind, full efficiency, whether he remains a homosexual or gets changed. If you make up your mind he should have analysis with me — I don't expect you will — he has to come over to Vienna. I have no intention of leaving here. However, don't neglect to give me your answer.
Sincerely yours with best wishes,
Freud
P.s. I did not find it difficult to read your handwriting. Hope you will not find my writing and my English a harder task.
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Where did the letter come from?
Very interesting, if indeed real.
Sadly, this is not a rejection of conversion therapy.
Following the link "via" in the margin between the two pages, I find:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2.....hamed.html
"The letter was later passed on to Alfred Kinsey and reproduced in The American Journal of Psychiatry in 1951, hence the attached note."
I am confident that the editors of AJP in 1951 were familiar with Freud's handwriting, and would have vetted the letter for both source and content prior to publishing it.
A letter from Freud was indeed published in AJP in 1951. See, http://ajp.psychiatryonline.or.....107/10/786 But I am not a subscriber to that journal, and do not have that issue in my collection.
Interesting. That letter is included on a Wiki about Freud's views on homosexuality. I was under the impression that Freud thought that homosexuality was caused by a stunting of emotional development.
Hardly new to anyone who has studied Freud, but nice to post it to remind people about this famous letter. Yes, Freud had a very enlightened view of homosexuality especially considering his time. He also had a lively correspondence and a great respect for Magnus Hirschfeld.
Never have seen this before, thanks for posting it, Queerty. Its hard to belive that some people (who consider themselves to be quite intelligent) still dont understand things that this guy knew way back in 1935. Most of his ideas have been debunked, but he was one of the first to challenge alot of established lines of thought. He was pretty couragious when you consider the times he operated in.
The fact that heterosexuals are not the least bit embarrassed or ashamed of themselves for treating their very own gay children the way that they do would make it appear that HETEROSEXUALITY is the REAL issue.
When do they finally deal with their own character flaws instead of blaming and abusing their gay children?
It's too hard to take too much of a position on Freud's position, all this time away– he moved and grew and retreated 100 times. BUT… even if you are critical of him– if you think that your childhood affected who you became, then on some level you are a Freudian. That was all NEW thinking when he brought it forward.
laura z. hobson used this letter in her novel consenting adults.
Freud called it bullshit while he was snorting coke lines off the back of an illegally HOT cuban chick.
Also-
You can't convert inherently stupid.
It is like trying to convert lead into gold.
It never works. Stupid.
The real issue is not some doped up asshole and what he thought.
It is stupid. That is the issue.
(HINT HINT)