For decades, while homosexuality was on the books as a mental disorder, the US turned a blind eye to the actual mental and physical health needs of LGBT people, while continuing to pathologize them-homophobia was basically enshrined in the medical literature.
The struggle to get LGBT health taken seriously as a distinct category of risk goes back several generations. The numbers made very clear what activists have been saying for decades: The public health of queer youth must be documented, recognized, and protected.
