Doctors' Group Warns Members Against 'Homophobic' Attitudes

The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization representing 60,000 pediatricians, has published bold new advice for doctors who may find themselves treating "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning" youth: Watch your attitude. In a policy statement and report the AAP published June 24 in its flagship journal, Pediatrics, the group warned its doctors against "homophobia" and "heterosexism," defined as "the societal expectation that heterosexuality is the expected norm and that, somehow, LGBTQ individuals are abnormal." The organization called heterosexism "insidious and damaging," and said doctors should treat LGBTQ youth in a "nonjudgmental" fashion.