Winner of a Books for a Better Life Literary Award in PsychologyThe importance of living authentically—accepting one’s homosexuality and embracing a positive gay identity—is at the heart of Dr. Richard Isay’s powerful work on the psychological development of gay men. In the candid language of personal case histories, including his own, Isay shows how disguising one’s sexual identity can induce anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. He looks at the dilemma of gay men who are closeting in heterosexual marriages as well as at the specific concerns of adolescents, older men, and those confronted with HIV or AIDS. Isay exposes the tenacity with which psychoanalysis has clung to outdated views of homosexuality. Becoming Gay offers great insight for students of psychology, gender studies, and sociology. Richard Isay is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College and a faculty member of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. He is currently vice president of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Association. Isay is also the author of Being Homosexual: Gay Men and Their Development. Winner of a "Books for a Better Life" Literary Award in PsychologyThe importance of living authentically—accepting one’s homosexuality and embracing a positive gay identity—is at the heart of Dr. Richard Isay’s powerful work on the psychological development of gay men. In the candid language of personal case histories, including his own, Isay shows how disguising one’s sexual identity can induce anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. He looks at the dilemma of gay men who are closeted in heterosexual marriages as well as at the specific concerns of adolescents, older men, and those confronted with HIV or AIDS. Isay exposes the tenacity with which psychoanalysis has clung to outdated views of homosexuality. Becoming Gay offers great insight for students of psychology, gender studies, and sociology. “Richard Isay has made a career of the struggle to make psychoanalysis safe, available, and effective as a treatment for gay men . . . His belief in his patients’ inherent worth is palpable and a powerful curative agent.”—The New England Journal of Medicine Read Less