Richard Colestock Pillard (born 11 October 1933) is a professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine. He was the first openly gay psychiatrist in the United States.Mass L (1990). Homophobia on the couch: A conversation with Richard Pillard, first openly gay psychiatrist in the United States. in Homosexuality and Sexuality: Dialogues of the Sexual Revolution—Volume I (Gay & Lesbian Studies). Haworth Press,
Early life and family
Pillard was born in Springfield, Ohio. He briefly attended Swarthmore College before transferring to Antioch College, where his father Basil H. Pillard was an English professor.Judson Jerome (Mar., 1958). Departure: Basil Pillard, 1895-1957. College English, Vol. 19, No. 6, Poetry and Professors Issue, p. 240 Pillard received his B.A. from Antioch.Paul E. Lynch (2003). An Interview with Richard C. Pillard, MD. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy Volume: 7 Issue: 4
Chandler Burr reported that Pillard jokes "he is uniquely equipped to investigate whether homosexuality has a biological basis: he, his brother, and his sister are gay, and Pillard believes that his father may have been gay. One of Pillard's three daughters from a marriage early in life is bisexual. This family history seems to invite a biological explanation, and it made Pillard start thinking about the origins of sexual orientation."Burr, Chandler (June 1997). Homosexuality and biology. The Atlantic Monthly
He and biologist James D. Weinrich co-authored a paper which found that homosexuality runs in some families.Talan, Jamie (August 19, 1986). Of Gays And Gay Siblings. Newsday
Publications Lane HL, Pillard RC, Hedberg U (2011). The People of the Eye: Deaf Ethnicity and Ancestry. Oxford University Press US,
Lane HL, Pillard RC (1978). The Wild Boy of Burundi: a study of an outcast child. Random House,
References