approach. Mr. Donald Webster Cory had already written to me about your organization.
There was only one answer to the following questionnaire also mailed to candidates. He was Roy E. West; his reactions are printed in italics:
1. Do you favor the continuance of the quota assignments currently issued to members of the Vice Squad Detail? No.
(give reason). No comment.
2. Do you favor the continuance of the practices of planting decoys for the purposes of entrapment? Yes.
(give reason). In this respect there must be a distinction made between homosexuals and the mentally perverted. 3. Do you favor the confiscation of address books and telephone memos in such cases? Yes and No.
(give reason). This is ambiguous, it depends on the circumstances.
4. Do you favor arrest of this nature without issuance of duly certified warrants? Yes and No.
(give reason). Again, it depends on
circumstances.
5. Do you favor Police Court arraignments wherein, in disregard of the procedures detailed in the California State Law, persons are commanded to plead to charges which are neither read, nor prepared by the City Attorney's office, nor attested to by representatives of the Community? Yes and No.
(give reason). No comment.
6. If elected, what policies might you be expected to propose in regard to
one
these matters?
I would have to consult with competent doctors and psychiatrists in order to set a policy.
7. If you are unfamiliar with any of the items indicated above, upon being elected what might you be expected to do in these matters?
See Item 6.
On Thursday, March 12, 1953, Paul V. Coates wrote a column in the Los Angeles Mirror on the Mattachine Foundation. He mentions the fact that the Foundation has sent questionnaires (described elsewhere in this issue) to all candidates in the coming Los Angeles elections and his own experience in checking up on same. He found that "There is no record of a Mattachine Corporation" and that one of the legal owners was "vague" over the phone in answering his questions. He also "uncovered" the fact that the articles of incorporation were drawn up by an attorney who chose to be an unfriendly witness at the Un-American Activities Committee hearings. On the basis of this he states, "A well-trained subversive could move in and forge that power (the immense homosexual minority) into a dangerous political weapon." But most notable is his summation: "To damn this organization, before its aims and directions are more clearly established, would be vicious and irresponsible. Maybe the people who founded it are sincere. It will be interesting to see." On the following page is the answer of the Mattachine Foundation.
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