THE MAYOR AND THE POLICE CHIEF...

A sharp politician likes to know how the wind blows. In a forum on homosexuality (see ONE, Feb., 1954 pg. 4) Mayor Abe Aronovitz opined that homosexuals should not be persecuted or hounded "They need kindly understanding." He added heavy qualifications, such as statement he knew nothing about the matter. But that was before the matter became a juicy political football. While Chief Headley and City Manager E. A. Evans were on vacation, the Mayor cut loose with radio blast charging coddling of homosexuals. Attacking Headley's policy of permitting homosexuals in certain bars "so police can watch them," Aronovitz threatened to fire Evans and Headley if all homosexual bars were not closed. He asked city attorney J. W. Watson, Jr., to draft new city ordinances (to class homosexuals as vagrants; to outlaw selling liquor to them, etc.) He later complained "crackpots and perverts" were upsetting his wife by "threatening and insulting phone calls."

Headley promised cooperation within the law, but couldn't go around arresting people just because they looked like homosexuals. If the Mayor would get a law against looking like that

John Orr, Rep.-nominee, noted it would cost taxpayers plenty to deal properly with problem without infringing on anyone's constitutional rights. "I know you can't legislate that people must act as normal human beings.""

City Manager Evans, back from Canada, seemed uncertain how to act, sided first with Headley, then ordered all-out police harassment against bars catering to homosexuals. After Sept. 2nd, police hit each bar on list several times nightly, looking for any minor violations. Most of the bars closed "for lack of customers"-others almost deserted. A bartender arrested for "noisy jukebox," another for serving a drunk, two others for serving a 20-year-old Marine (turned over to M.P.s). Six women picked up in lesbian bar and four men "vagged" in Bayfront Park.

Aronovitz suddenly flays other Commissioners for blocking his "beneficial legislation."

Sept. 10: Acting Solicitor Allsworth of Fort Lauderdale opened "his war on perverts" by setting up complete file on all who've been arrested in Florida. Received bulky files from Dade County and the F.B.I. Planned to press for legislation to hospitalize all deviates who want to be cured, and imprison all others, whether or not they've been convicted of crimes.

THEY CAN'T DO THIS TO US-?...

Many readers not living in Southern California have been admonishing ONE's editors to talk less about unfair treatment of homosexuals (they assure us there are no problems except in Los Angeles.) Since most of us on ONE have lived elsewhere, we know that vice-squad malpractices and badly written laws and such evils are roughly nationwide, and a problem ONE cannot ignore. Nor do we feel that other members of society, interested in protecting their own civil rights can much longer afford to ignore the flagrant infringement of civil rights of persons who happen to be homosexual.

The Miami story illustrates what trumped up hysteria can do in a few weeks to any city in the United States. Corrupt politicians and opportunistic demagogues can endanger any community that permits itself to be herded into pogrom. It is possible that national policy nowadays makes Negroes and Jews less likely targets for such hateorgies in the United States. (Open-season still, of course, on Communists, but with so crowded a field, its hard for a new man to get a stake here.)

And one begins to realize that by all the requirements, the fantastically large minority of homosexuals is perhaps the top candidate for any new and large scale witch hunt in America.

Now that homosexuality has become mentionable in polite society, the social balance can be seen quickly shifting, as society tries to decide what new attitude it must take to the problem. It seems certain to this author that the shift will be fast, and the new attitude drastic, and that it will determine in large part the extent to which this nation remains a free and open society.

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