Queering Psychedelics

Alex Belser is a psychologist and psychedelic researcher in clinical trials at NYU and Yale University. He is also the co-co-founder of the psychedelic research group at NYU. He studied at Georgetown University, the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, NYU, and Yale University. He is the Chief Clinical Officer of Cybin, and served as Chief Clinical Officer at Adelia Therapeutics. Additionally, he is a member of Chacruna Institute’s Women, Gender Diversity, and Sexual Minorities Working Group. He has investigated psilocybin and MDMA to treat depression, anxiety, substance use, OCD, PTSD, and end-of-life distress. He is co-author of EMBARK, a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy model, and was a contributor to Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture, (Synergetic Press, 2021). Clancy Cavnar is a clinical psychologist, artist, and researcher based in San Francisco. She has a doctorate in clinical psychology from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, CA and is Co-Founder and a member  of the Board of Directors of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. Additionally, she is a research associate of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP). She has a master of fine arts in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, a master’s in counseling from San Francisco State University, and a certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). She is author and co-author of articles in several peer-reviewed journals and co-editor, with Beatriz C. Labate, of ten books, including Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture (Synergetic Press, 2021). Beatriz C. Labate is a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco. She has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. Her research focuses on the study of plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice. She is the Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. Additionally, she serves as the Public Education and Culture Specialist at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and Adjunct Faculty at the East-West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). She is author, co-author, and co-editor of twenty-four books including Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture  (Synergetic Press, 2021), two special-edition journals, and several peer-reviewed articles.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Queering Psychedelics: An Introduction xi

Section 1: From Oppression to Liberation: Organizing for Change

-       A Queer Vision for Psychedelic Research: Past Reckonings,Current Reforms, and Future Transformations 3

o   Alex Belser, PhD, and Ava Keating

-       Where Is the Love? Queerness and the State of Psychedelic Research 13

o   Amy Bartlett, LLB, LLM, Challian Christ, Stéphanie Manoni-Millar, Terence H. W. Ching, PhD

-       A Queer Response to Psychedelic Privilege 21

o   Ariel Vegosen

-       A Consensual Discourse Dialogue 29

o   Courtney Watson and Emma Knighton

-       Community Care: The Heart of Queer Psychedelic Liberation 35

o   Diana Quinn, ND

Section 2: Psychedelic Conversion Therapy

-       LSD and Mescaline Psychedelic Conversion Therapies in
Postwar North America 45

o   Andrea Ens 

-       Psyched Straight: The Early Life of LSD as a Conversion
Therapy Drug 53

o   Tal Davidson

-       High Dose Psychedelic Shock Therapy with LSD and Mescaline: The Conversion Treatment of a French Doctor on Two Homosexual Adolescents in the 1960s 59

o   Zoë Dubus 

Section 3: Queering the Clinic: Psychedelic Treatment 

-       Queer Rejection, Isolation, and the Promise of Psychedelics 67

o   Matthew D. Skinta, PhD, ABPP

-       Unicorns and Stardust: A Case Report of Queering MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy 75

o   Chris Stauffer, MD, and Andrea Rosati, MD, PhD 

-       Everything but the Kitchen Sink: Prescribing Psychedelics as
Harm Reduction to Help Gay Men Quit Crystal Meth 81

o   John Haupert, NP 

-       The Quest for Queer Liberation: Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
and Shame 89

o   Shanna Butler, PhD, and Laura Mae Northrup  

-       Widening the Lens: Set and Setting in Queer Psychedelia  97

o   Jeanna Eichenbaum  

-       Best Practices for Assessing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
in Psychedelic Clinical Trials: A Proposed Assessment 103

o   Scott McKernan, MA, and Alex Belser, PhD  

Section 4: Transgender and Gender-Diverse Psychedelic Experience 

-       Transcending Dysphoria: Exploring the Novel Counter-Dysphoric
and Lifesaving Effects of Psychedelics in the Transgender
Community  111

o   Sam Claude Carmel 

-       Gender Rituals and Gendered Ritual: Reflections of a
Transgender Activist in the Psychedelic Community 121

o   Taylor Dahlia Bolinger 

-       A Patient’s Perspective on the Healing Potential of Psilocybin 129

o   PatientNB

-       Integrate with Me: A Story of Queer and Trans Liberation
through Entheogenic Therapy 133

o   Tristan Angieri 

Section 5: Race, Intersectionality, and Psychedelics as Liberatory Tools for LGBTQIA+ folks

-       火 + 木:  An Intersectional Experience of MDMA-Assisted
Psychotherapy 143

o   Terence H. W. Ching, PhD

-       Queer Identity, African Diasporic Spirituality, and
Intersectional Healing through Psychedelic Medicine 149

o   Kaston D. Anderson-Carpenter, PhD

-       A New Standard: The Urban Heroic Dose of 10g 155

o   Behike Sensei Kevon Simpson

Section 6: Psychedelics and LGBTQIA+ Self-Acceptance

-       Out of All the Boxes: How Psychedelic Experiences Empower and
Affirm Queer Worldviews 169

o   Kate Kincaid

-       Can Psychedelics Queer You Up? How They Helped Me
Embrace Fluidity 177

o   Valentin Somma, PhD 

-       How Psychedelics Can Guide the Transformative Journey
of Polyamory 185

o   Justin Natoli, JD, LMFT

Section 7: Ayahuasca, Santo Daime, and Queer Psychedelic Spirituality 

-       A Two-Spirit Approach to Psychedelics: Honoring Indigenous
Identities and Decolonizing Gender and Sexuality 195

o   Marca Cassity and Katherine A. Costello, PhD 

-       Reflections on Spirituality, Gender, and Power in my Experience
with Santo Daime  205

o   Clancy Cavnar, PsyD 

-       Ayahuasca and Gender in Brazil: An Interview With Sociologist
Dr. Pietro Benedito—Are Homophobia and Transphobia Sacred? 213

o   Beatriz C. Labate 

-       Sacred-Species-Social Reproduction 221

o   Zach Levine  

Section 8: Sexuality, Psychedelics, and Queer Pleasure  

-       Reclaiming Ecstasy: A Radical Queer Perspective on the Power
of Pleasure in Psychedelic Healing 231

o   Dee Dee Goldpaugh  

-       Queering Psychedelic Erotics: Deconstructing Sex and
Embodiment with LSD 239

o   Alex Dymock, PhD  

-       Dungeons of Perception: How the Psychedelic and Kink Community
Can Learn from Each Other to the Benefit of the Queer Community 245

o   Denise Renye, PsyD   

Section 9: Expansive Queer Psychedelic Phenomenology  

-       Mushrooms, Magick, and Wilderness: Radical Queer Group Psilocybin Rituals 255

o   joie wolfw-m-n   

-       Connecting to Queer-Inclusive Mythologies for Psychedelic
Integration 263

o   Kile M. Ortigo, PhD, and Daan Keiman

-       The Psychonaut, the Rapist, and the Rainbow 273

o   Ayesha Hussain   

Contributor Biographies 279

Editor Biographies 289

References 291

Index 311