'Gay' life

is learned, not illness,

experts say

• Washington Post

BOSTON Despite common prejudices, and some scientists' past beliefs, homosexuals are no different in their physical or biological responses to sex from anyone else and deserve to be treated as normal human beings, two of the nation's leading sex therapists, Dr. William H. Masters and Virginia Johnson, said yesterday.

They said a 15-year study of more than 300 homosexual men and women has convinced them homosexuality for most persons is neither a physical nor an emotional illness or a genetic disorder, but

rather a form of "learned behavior," just like heterosexuality, or preference for the opposite sex.

But homosexuality is also a form of behavior that can be unlearned in a surprising two out of three individuals, they said, if the homosexual wants to do so and gets their kind of treatment.

The man-and-wife therapist team urged doctors to help sexually illadjusted homosexuals who want help.

Like many heterosexuals, some want help in achieving their own Continued on Page 12-A