Torrance Memorial Manhattan Beach office patient Matthew Moore is a self-professed homosexual man, but his visit to the network’s Manhattan office went smooth without a hitch.
That is, until he went back to get his test results on his health. Moore was considered to be vitamin B-12 deficient, along with having high cholesterol and high blood pressure, but his health checkup analysis also showed something else alarming: the code 302 along with the words “homosexual behavior” was placed on his health prognosis. For those who may not know, code “302.0” was used for sexual deviancy or “mental illness,” as it was listed in 1973. Homosexual orientation has been removed from the list of mental illnesses since 1973.
Moore thought nothing of it at first, but he then says that he became offended. His decision? He went back to the doctor at the Manhattan Beach office to see if she could clarify the reason for the diagnosis on his health records. The doctor defended the code and the label in his medical records, stating that homosexual behavior was still seen by some in the medical community as a mental disease.
“Government tells us, oftentimes, that we’re not equal. Many churches tell us that we’re sinners, and now here’s a medical professional telling us that we’re sick. And it’s gotta stop,” Moore told NBC Los Angeles.
Due to the insult regarding his homosexual behavior, Moore asked that his $30 copay be returned to him. He received it in the mail, along with a letter from the Torrence Memorial Network with words from Torrance Health Association Senior Director Heidi Assigal:
“We fully appreciate your frustration and anger related to your experience and are committed to ensuring that such events are not repeated. We would like to unequivocally state that the Torrence Memorial Physician Network does not view homosexuality as a disease or a chronic condition and we do not endorse or approve the use of Code 302.0 as a diagnosis for homosexuality.”
Moore says that he did not have a problem with his homosexual orientation being listed on his medical information; his issue was with his orientation being listed as a “chronic condition,” as though it was some complication that had to be overcome or mourned. Moore also says that he has never been ashamed to be homosexual.
