Levin Honored During LGBT History Month

APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., was featured last month as an icon in LGBT history by Equality Forum, an organization based in Philadelphia. The organization’s mission is to advance national and international lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights (LGBT) with an educational focus.

During LGBT History Month, which occurs in October, Equality Forum featured the profiles of 31 LGBT individuals for achievements in their field or for significant contributions to LGBT civil rights. The profile is posted on the website LGBTHistoryMonth.com.

“Dr. Levin is an inspiring role model and, as the first openly gay APA CEO, a workplace pioneer,” said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of Equality Forum. “Saul is not only out, he’s outstanding.”

A biography on the website states, “In 2013 Levin was hired as the CEO and medical director of APA, the world’s leading psychiatric association. His position as the organization’s top medical executive marks an LGBT milestone. Until 1973 homosexuality was listed in APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders. Treatments for the ‘disease’ included lobotomy, electric shock treatment, chemical castration, and other catastrophic therapies.” 

The biography further states: “In 2018 Levin addressed the audience after a performance of ‘217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous,’ an Off-Broadway play about APA member John E. Fryer, M.D., and his role in the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness.

Levin praised Dr. Fryer and spoke about the APA’s commitment to LGBT inclusion and equality” (Psychiatric News, herehttp://apapsy.ch/Fryer).

“It is wonderful to see our CEO and medical director being recognized as a groundbreaker in psychiatry and an icon in the LGBT community,” said APA President Altha Stewart, M.D. “The American Psychiatric Association is dedicated to increasing diversity in our field and training psychiatrists to work with diverse populations. Mental health affects people of all sexual orientations, races, religions, and genders—that’s why it’s so important that our patients can see themselves reflected in the field of psychiatry.” ■