LGBTQ + Health
Colleague Interview: A Conversation with Eli Coleman, PhD
E
li Coleman, PhD, (Pronouns: he/him/his) is Professor and Director of the Program in Human Sexuality in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School. He holds the first endowed academic chair in sexual health in the country. Dr. Coleman is the author of numerous articles and books on compulsive sexual behavior, sexual offenders, sexual orientation, gender dysphoria, chemical dependency, family intimacy, and on the psychological and pharmacological treatment of a variety of sexual dysfunctions and disorders. He is one of the founding editors of the International Journal of Transgenderism and is the founding and current editor of the International Journal of Sexual Health. He is one of the past-presidents of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the World Association for Sexual Health, the International Academy for Sex Research and the Society for Sex Therapy and Research. He is currently the Chair of the WPATH Standards of Care Revision Committee. He has been a frequent consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (the regional office of WHO), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
How did you begin a career in sexual health? It was mostly accidental. I was training to become a psychologist and came to the University of Minnesota to finish my doctorate where I discovered the Program in Human Sexuality (PHS). I was looking for a dissertation topic and decided to study sex therapy. Keep in mind, at that time very little was known, and it was a wide-open area for research. Afterwards, the PHS was offered a faculty position. I took the position thinking I would take it for a year or two, however, I am still faculty 40 years later. The reason I stayed on as faculty was the work. My work is about a very central aspect of people’s lives and examines the essence of being human.
The University of Minnesota Program for Human Sexuality recently celebrated 50 years. How has the program changed over time? It has changed a great deal. The program was established in the 1970s, on the wings of the sexual revolution. It was really 8
September/October 2020
started to train medical students. At that time LGBTQ+ issues were new in public discussion and physicians didn’t have needed training. Minnesota was an early pioneer in establishing this type of program. This was made possible through new federal and foundation grant funding for medical training and research in sexuality throughout the 1970s. However, in the 1980s much of this national funding disappeared and other medical schools had to close their training programs. At Minnesota, we were able to build up our clinical services and our teaching and research efforts “survived” on clinical revenue. The 1980s was a difficult time for sex research. During the Reagan-Bush era we saw very little funding for human sexuality studies on a national level and there was less emphasis on research. However, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was a turning point and there was again recognition that research in human sexuality was an important part of improving human health. We developed funding for post-doctoral fellows and rebuilt a robust research program. MetroDoctors
The Journal of the Twin Cities Medical Society
