During the trial, the defense attorney presents an expert witness (very much sounding like Judith Reisman) to whom our intrepid, PC prosecutor directs the withering sneer (paraphrased), "have any of these studies been published anywhere? Backed by the leading psychiatric professional organizations?"
As long as gays "own" the "three APAs'" professional committees on homosexuality and paraphilias, and as long as they can get together the kind of professional witch-hunt to punish professionals who step out of line that Zuriff et. al. complain about in your post above, then gays will always be able to throw that sneer at nonconformists to their party line. There was also a reference to the APA's removal of homosexuality from DSM-III, and the sneering challenge -- "or is it all just a big conspiracy?!"
To which the actual answer is -- yes!
"Although the gay liberation movement's arguments were based mostly on the social implications of the diagnosis, the board tried to limit its consideration to scientific and medical arguments. The "scientific" considerations were based on two kinds of evidence. One was a body of research strongly pointing to a major biological basis for homosexuality. This included ethological studies finding homosexuality throughout the animal kingdom, cross-cultural investigations indicating homosexuality is a human universal (and in some cultures, socially accepted), and neuroendocrinological studies showing the effects of hormones on brain development. The implication was that homosexuality is not simply the result of childhood trauma. It is neither freely chosen nor "unnatural."
The more important evidence came from psychological studies of gay men and lesbians in the general population. A major criticism of pathological theories of homosexuality was that they were derived from observations of homosexual patients who were seeking professional help. Not surprisingly, they found that homosexuality was closely associated with a variety of psychopathologies. However, when nonpatient homosexual populations were studied, it was found that many homosexual adults were leading well-adjusted, fulfilling lives. In general, homosexuality was not associated with any increased incidence of psychopathology.
Neither of these bodies of evidence is decisive. To be sure, findings supporting a biological contribution to homosexuality undermine the early psychoanalytic explanations. But the evidence is not all in, and even today it is too early to prejudge the issue. More important, even if homosexuality is shown to be genetically based, biological determination does not preclude a condition from being a disorder or from being treated. Some forms of depression and anxiety are known to have biological causes but are nevertheless considered psychiatric disorders and are often effectively treated, both biologically and psychologically.
The second argument, that homosexuality is not associated with other conditions recognized as psychopathologies, also falls short. It begs the question as to whether homosexuality in and of itself is a psychopathology. From the fact that a person can be perfectly healthy except for a broken bone, we would not argue that fractures are not medical problems. One could just as well argue that because many people with phobic anxieties manage to cope well, live full lives, and show no symptoms other than their narrowly focused anxiety, phobias are not psychopathologies. Furthermore, several of the disorders retained in DSMII also do not necessarily involve subjective distress (e.g., fetishism).