Evelyn Hooker

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Evelyn Hooker

1907-1996

American psychologist known for her 1950s' research showing that homosexuality is not a mental illness. In a highly controversial report in 1957, she challenged the then-prevailing beliefs about homosexuality. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders. She earned her bachelor and master's degrees in psychology at the University of Colorado. She received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.

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