headed communist (they might even call you one to your face), and then, in fright, flee back into their holes, never to be seen again. Then there are those who think of you as some sort of Salvation Army worker, prudish and ready to give a lecture on Thou-shalt-not at the drop of a hat. Then you start receiving letters calling you "a dirty swine". Your phone starts ringing in the middle of the night, and some weirdly at the other end of the line pours such a stream of psychopathic invective into your ear that you can't sleep for days. Then officialdom starts noseying around. You are asked again if you're a communist.
Then there are the reports and the reports and the reports. There is money to be begged for, newer arguments to
there would never be a Mattachine Society-or any other type of homosexual organization-if all you did were to chant. angry hymns against persecution. You must offer those who are interested sufficient, positive benefits before they will risk coming into range of the open fire from the Opposition. You must ask of each prospective member that, in some way or another, he become a "professional" homosexual. No easy job, that! Take it from me!
Now, let's put down that pipe and be sensible about this business. Mass movements might appear to get things donefor a while-but what good can you do by getting those things started? Mass movements are ugly and monstrous. (Hm? The editors) They arise because of a
remember last september?
ONE, Inc. has now set up books to accommodate a fund to carry on any kind of a fight that will improve the legal lot of the homosexual. Hundreds of readers want this. It's now possible and the theme you'll hear in every issue from now on will run like this: A penny a day will buy history. Are your legal rights worth thirty cents a month? There will be a monthly accounting of how the bank account stands and the books will be open to all who want to see them.
A PENNY A DAY WILL BUY HISTORY. SEND IT?
sharpen your wits on, ministers to be interviewed, lawyers to be consulted, encouragements to the faint-hearted, letters to be answered. Then someone comes up to you and urbanely calls you a "damn fool". Why in hell do you do it anyway? This is when you stop and look back at all the trouble you've had, wondering why in hell they can't be "NICE" people. (Like a friend of mine once said: "What are we doing? We're just organizing people who are sick, sick sick!") Yes, why all the fuss? Why do I go on doing it? Am I a fanatic?
Damn good question!
Positive Benefits-Like Bail
You, M.F., would cite as reason the injustice perpetrated against a minority. Yes, that would be a good reason. But
multitude of little hates. They are an amalgamation of millions of tiny frustrations. (Like those of Protestants, Puritans, Pioneers?) Once started, they roll on, crushing the cautious, the doubters, the skeptics, the unbelieving. Like a cancer, they breed other hatreds, newer fears, retaliations, revenge and mistrust. We are a minority. We shall always be a minority. Let's not forget that. What benefits or advantages could we ever gain from swinging money and politics around? What worth is any position wrung from the powers-that-be by bribery and lobbying?
I'm Sane, Creative, Mature
No, the Mattachine Society (or any other prescribed homosexual organization) is not, and must not be, a religion,
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