Just like the former's removal from the DSM coincided with changing cultural attitudes favorable to it, the latter remains classified as a disorder because negative attitudes against it persist.

Without taking positions, I can agree with you that moral relativism should definitely not be influencing such things, and yet it obviously is doing exactly that. I already saw it well enough in psychology, but you are correct that it is also becoming highly influential in psychiatry, which, for all its required education and supposed biological sciences, one would think it would not be so influenced by come and go political scheming of the times. But just look at each new publication of the DSM, and realize how those revision arguments prove that even medicine is now being politicized. Ir's absolutely shameful, and I do not say that according to my own opinions on what should be normalized or not, even though I obviously have my own suspicions and opinions just like everyone else. It's supposed to set standards for healthy human interaction. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT POLITICAL ENDS.

By placing the onus of the problem on the individual, their surrounding social context is exempted from critique, precluding progressive sociocultural treatment approaches as a means of solving the matter.

While I completely agree that the circumstances and facts as to WHY a kid might disagree and take a stand against something ought to be taken into account, I think I'll take a pass on your politicized reasoning for doing so. (See above.)

The formal designation of these behaviors as "medical symptoms" requiring treatment fosters the impression that society's normative behaviors are "natural" and "good," or otherwise justified.

Mmm, yeah, I have a problem with this one. Normative behaviors generally aren't just some anomaly that came to be normative on their own. They came to be so because societies found that they seemed to work and benefit the group as a whole. They do change over time, but my point here is that people agreeing upon what is normal behavior isn't as flippant as some people believe. It tends to be time-proven behavior that generally reaps benefits for everyone. And yes, I am aware of that corner I seem to be painting us into.

psychiatry is an intrinsically ethnocentric ideology.

I'd say it's probably also an ideology of geographical place and shared identity that develops over time. So what? Whether you play sports or Twister or Risk, there's some expected normal behaviors that are not about stifling your freedom, but to reduce the level of chaos, so that everyone can understand what they need to do to get along and make progress for themselves. People get pissy when there's no basic rules to follow. It's true. At some point, the peaceful functioning of society becomes more important than the whims of the individual who wants to go rogue. We may not always like it as an individual, but it's still the way things work. Nevertheless, as a group of sizable proportion, I think we have a very reasonable position to demand a place for ourselves in society, but unlike the homosexuality you referenced, I wouldn't demand assimilation and reverence. I'd only demand the chance to prove my worth to your kid's future while obeying existing laws.

Because it functions to legitimate the status quo by regulating deviant behaviors and promoting the myth that they are generated by biological rather than sociocultural and political-economic (i.e., environmental) factors, it is thoroughly conservative.

I sympathize and likely agree with your assertion. I don't come to the same conclusion. We may need a clearer definition of conservative in the sense that you intend it.

I think we agree that they seem to present themselves as the ultimate authority when it comes to morality and perversion, even as they are often out of tune with other parts of the world and increasingly allow fleeting politics of the times to influence their supposed science. On the other hand, I think we might disagree that there should legitimately be some basic ground rules for how a society ought to behave, just for the simple sake of everyone getting along.

Great thoughts. Thank you for forcing me to try hard.