George Weinberg (May 17, 1929 – March 20, 2017) was an American psychologist. He was the author of several books. He coined the term "homophobia" in the 1960s, it first appearing in the press in 1969.
Early life
George Weinberg was born on May 17, 1929, to a Jewish family. His father, Frederick Weinberg, was a lawyer while his mother, Lillian Hyman, was a secretary for a law firm. The word was first printed in Screw on May 5, 1969, followed by Time a few months later. By 1972, Weinberg explained the use of term in Society and the Healthy Homosexual. He suggested that those who harbor prejudice against homosexuals, and not homosexuals themselves, are suffering from a psychological malady, an irrational state of mind. Weinberg, though heterosexual himself, became a leader in the (successful) campaign to have homosexuality removed as a diagnostic category from the DSM, the professional therapeutic handbook. He was instrumental in shifting public perception of homosexuality. He instead presented immediately practical tools that patients can use to help themselves.