What did Freud have to say about homosexuality?

For those who don't know, Freud among other professional dignitaries signed a statement, in 1930, which called for the repeal of the law penalizing homosexual relations between "consenting adult males."

In 1930 Freud again spoke in the Vienna public press on the subject of homosexuality. This time he appeared as a co-signatory to a statement addressed to a joint Austro-German legal commission which was considering the revision of the penal code. Among the other signatories were Artur Schintzler, Franz Werfel, and Moritz Schlick. The statement noted that the commission was reported as deadlocked over a proposal to repeal Paragraph 175, the law penalizing hosexual relations between "consenting adult males." But the deadlock should be broken. "Humanity, justice and reason" all required the repeal, and it should be agreed to immediately. "Homosexuality," the statement continued, had "been present throughout history and among all peoples." The laws which penalized it represented an "extreme violation of human rights" (p. 382).

Abelove, H. (1985), Freud, male homosexuality, and the Americans. In The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, ed. H. Abelove, M.A. Barale, & D. Halperin. New York: Routledge, 1993, pp. 381-393.

Submitted by Jack Drescher