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Largest Physician Organization Backs Same-Sex Marriage

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At its annual meeting last week in Chicago, the AMA added its voice to the chorus of medical organizations, including APA, that have adopted policies supporting the right of same-sex couples to marry and highlighting the health-related consequences of denying them this right. The AMA emphasized that denying the right of civil marriage "imposes harmful stigma on gay and lesbian individuals and couples and their families" and "contributes to health care disparities affecting same-sex households." The AMA also went on record vowing to support measures "providing same-sex households with the same rights and privileges to health care, health insurance, and survivor benefits as afforded opposite-sex households." The AMA has in recent years adopted several policies that address the needs and rights of gay and lesbian physicians, medical students, and patients.

To read more about how bias against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals affects mental health, see Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/9/9.2.full , http:/pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/11/17.2.full , and
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/45/7/14.2.full .