A Brief History of Division 44

Doug Kimmel, Historian

1973 — A group of lesbian and gay male psychologists organized a group called the Association of Gay Psycholo-gists (AGP) during the California Psychological Association meeting. The group held a meeting during the annual APA Convention later that year in Montreal. The group consisting of 75–100 people, about 20 per-cent women, developed a list of eight “demands” that Stephen Morin, who had been elected chair, delivered to Albert Bandura, President of APA.

1975 — In response to the “demands” of AGP, APA Council approved the creation of a Task Force on the Status of Lesbian and Gay Male Psychologists, which met until 1979. It also endorsed the action of the American Psychiatric Association of removing homosexuality from the list of mental disorders and “urged psycholo-gists to take the lead in removing the stigma long associated with homosexuality.”