Pentagon paper classifies homosexuality as illness

WASHINGTON – A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.

The document outlines retirement and other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities. In a section on defects, it lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.

Critics said the reference underscores the Pentagon’s failing policies on gays and adds to a culture that has created uncertainty and insecurity around the treatment of gay service members.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeremy M. Martin said the policy document is under review.

The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, uncovered the Pentagon document and called it proof that the military deserves failing grades for its treatment of gays.

The document, called a Defense Department Instruction, was condemned by medical professionals, members of Congress and other experts, including the American Psychiatric Association.