Experience in the course of psychoanalysis has shown us that the recollections as told by the subjects are partial and incomplete.
The repressed memories and all those images which the subjects are unwilling at first to see come to surface only after weeks of analysis. Then the subjects are astonished to discover that they did not really know themselves. The solution of our problem appears to depend on the successful analysis of a large number of homosexuals. Meanwhile there are a number of striking facts which every psychoanalyst can verify and which those who uphold the theory that homosexuality is inborn look upon as proof of their contention that homosexuality is truly hereditary: most homosexuals are apparently well satisfied with their condition and do not particularly care to be cured of it. They call on the analyst only after they come into conflict with the law or if they fear such a conflict. They do not want to have heterosexual feelings, they are proud of their condition and they always insist that social ostracism alone is what makes their status an unhappy one. They belong to those remarkable persons who refuse to appreciate their plight. Hence the customary statement: since I began homosexual relations I am happy. I desire nothing else! Only a small number retain any desire for “wife and child” and for normal relations, but even those fear it as much as the “manly hero,” proud of his homosexuality.
We must not forget that exclusive homosexuality is the end result of a long and tortuous psychic process, a sort of self-healing process in the midst of a quasi-insoluble conflict. The dangerous heterosexual path is apparently blocked altogether, because certain inhibitions stand actively in the way. The removal of the inhibitions renews the acute character of the conflict,—it means changing a state of truce for a state of active warfare. The homosexual finds in his condition a makeshift for peace and quiet. It is a poor peace, to be sure, for the heterosexual inclinations are still powerful enough to generate neurotic symptoms. But it is a safety outlet and anxiety prevents its abandon. Just as the woman seized with fear of open spaces (agoraphobia) finally refuses to leave the house and thus avoids her anxiety only to experience the attacks of anxiety again the moment she endeavors to step out of the circumscribed area of peace,—the moment she endeavors to go beyond the sphere within which her inner voice keeps quiet,—so the homosexual feels once more the full strength of his revulsion whenever he attempts heterosexual activity. His customary attitude towards woman is one of dislike or disgust, she may leave him indifferent, but never will he admit that—he is afraid of woman. He would rather assume the mask of indifference; he may be willing to approach woman but only upon intellectual grounds, he may even appreciate her as a friend, but he flees from her as a possible lover.
The homosexual resembles the fetichist in this regard: he has found his compromise, he has become accustomed to his limitation and willingly puts up with his limitation as being something organic, final, inherited. That is why we usually hear that the homosexual felt his peculiarity already in his childhood, that he was from the first unlike the other children, that he was always “different.”
The pride over his condition, the continually repeated and stressed notion that he is exceptional, the attitude of contrariness towards what is normal, all these things render difficult a subsequent correction of the trouble.[26]
How may the homosexual be cured? If he is made heterosexual he represses his homosexuality and becomes neurotic for that reason; the endeavor to turn him bisexual meets the course of social development. The proper therapic course would be to remove the inhibitions which stand between him and woman, to make him de facto again bisexual and heterosexual for all practical purposes. That is certainly possible and it may be attained through analysis provided the subjects have the patience and perseverance to carry it out. Where the will is lacking no therapist can accomplish anything. Unfortunately in most instances the will is absent.
Analysis has taught us how misleading the first accounts are as obtained from the subjects, how much they recollect their past in a spirit of partizanship. Every person carries out a one-sided choice of remembrances recalling merely what suits a particular occasion. This came to me as a great surprise when I first undertook the analysis of a homosexual especially as at the time my experience was limited and my knowledge of the technique and my understanding of resistance very imperfect. At the time I still believed that the patient wills to get well; I am convinced today that the will to be ill is the strongest force which we must fight against. That first homosexual gave me the usual history,—the development from early childhood of feelings exclusively homosexual. My surprise was great when the subject recalled a large number of heterosexual experiences in the course of the following three weeks, all dating from his childhood. I learned then in one lesson that homosexuality is developmental and not something inborn; an acquired, not an inherited character. I was much impressed with Hirschfeld’s theory of the intermediary stage (Zwischenstufentheorie) but placed no credence in this theory and awaited further proofs. At the First Psychoanalytic Congress, Sadger reported similar experiences based on psychoanalysis. To be sure, Sadger conceived the psychogenesis of homosexuality in rather narrow terms and for a time, I must confess, I too looked upon the repression of the mother Imago, which every woman is alleged to reproduce, as the sole cause of homosexuality.[27]
But my diligent researches extending over a period of years have since convinced me that this problem is very complicated and that there are clearly a number of genetic factors, and that several of them must and do cooperate in every instance to bring about the thwarting of the heterosexual and the enlargement of the homosexual craving.
It occurred to me at first that in many cases the inhibitions may disappear also in the homosexual leading him to become again a heterosexual person. Every one who has had any experience with the homosexual knows that occasionally a genuine homosexual may change and fall in love unexpectedly with a woman or he even marries and after that continues as a normal person. Thus, for instance, Tarnovsky, in his work, “The Morbid Manifestations of the Sexual Instinct,” states:[28] “I know a pederast who maintained relations almost exclusively with young boys; at a relatively advanced age he fell passionately in love with a young girl, whom he married and with whom he had children. He was able to carry out sexual relations with his wife only because her face resembled that of a young man whom he once loved.” A rationalisation of that kind, such a transformation, may be seen here and there. It is quite likely that the young man, whom Tarnovsky’s patient once loved, in turn resembled the homosexual’s sister or some other beloved female person and that the subject took that step to return at last to his first heterosexual ideal. Only a few days ago there called on me a “confirmed” homosexual who had suddenly fallen in love with a cabaret singer whom he wanted to marry. She was the exact image of a sister of his who had died long ago. Before this he did not want to hear of contact with women. Cases of this kind—without any treatment, of course,—are discussed very heatedly in homosexual circles and the news is rapidly spread. The deserter is spoken of as traitor to the holy cause, he is counted out and banished from the circle. Anathema sit! Such cases are not infrequent. But they do not come to the attention of the physician and if they attract the specialist’s attention, the latter invariably declares them instances of “pseudo-homosexuality.” No “genuine” homosexual would do such a thing! Homosexual physicians, unfortunately, only add to the confusion on this subject. They constitute themselves judge and jury at the same time, but claim to be objective in their judgment,—they have tried the experiment in their own case, etc.—Oh, those wonderful psychologists who know all about their own soul! What have I not endured from those enthusiasts who imagine that they have really penetrated the depths of their own psyche! But any one who has opportunity to analyze a psychoanalyst is invariably amazed at the degree of blindness possible where one’s own attitude is concerned. The practice of psychoanalysis on others does not prevent ignorance where self is concerned. I have analyzed dozens of psychoanalysts and found “analytic scotoma” an appropriate designation for their mental state. Every one is blind about those complexes which he has not yet conquered, whether he meets them in himself or in others. The homosexual physician is also blind about his own condition and should never undertake to furnish testimony on the question whether homosexuality is inherited or acquired.
There are occasions when the cover which screens from view our inner attitude, the repressions and transferences, the metamorphoses and changes, is torn aside by more powerful forces and then we obtain a view of the forces which act behind the setting of consciousness. These occasions are the intervals during which our inhibitions are lifted. Insanity permits us occasionally to see truths which reason timidly keeps under cover. But alcohol also tears aside the screen which covers the inner man. Many physicians know of persons apparently heterosexual in every respect and who never think of homosexuality, but who have been guilty while drunk of carrying out homosexual deeds such as are entirely repulsive to them in the sober state. I had under my care a teacher who while intoxicated—the first time in his life—attacked a boy and was guilty of committing a crime. When he came to himself he felt so disconsolate, his remorse was so great, that he wanted to take his life and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he was prevented from turning himself over to the authorities. Later he was denounced by some one. But I was able to squash the inquiry for lack of positive evidence. In his favor stood his exemplary previous life history and the fact that he had always been an admirer of ladies and had never taken any interest in men or boys. I have already remarked before that a large number of those who uphold temperance or abstinence are really afraid of alcohol because it releases inhibitions and permits the aggressive outbreak of repressed sensuousness.