Policing "perversions": Depo-Provera and John Money's new sexual order

The use of the drug Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate [MPA]) in the treatment of sexual minorities, such as sadomasochists, transvestites, sexually active children and teenagers, and adults sexually attracted to minors, is the latest development in a long tradition of dangerous and crude experimentation by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists with biodeterministic and reductionist views of human sexuality. Among them is clinical psychologist John Money, whose zealous advocacy of such treatments ignores or downplays critical issues of ethics, informed consent, and the side effects of the drug. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has failed to effectively regulate such uses of Depo-Provera. Public outcry, more stringent regulation, and a new acceptance of the rights of sexual minorities are necessary to forestall the imposition of a repressive, new sexual order.