things discussed could be wiped out altogether, but that is something the law cannot expect to do . . . . The main need is that homosexuality should not spread farther. One committee member, Mr. James Adair, is afraid that to abolish the crime would foster the vice. And MP's, when they come to study the report, should not forget that point. of view either."

The report became a rapid bestseller. The MIRROR took a poll, found a slight majority of 10,000 of its readers opposed easing the law on homosexuality. The Cabinet had a quiet preliminary discussion. One Tory demanded the party expell the Tory MP member of the Wolfenden Committee. Even TV took a look at the problem....

The SPECTATOR: "There will of course be considerable opposition to this long overdue reform. Many people still believe with Albert the Great that homosexuality is as contageous as any disease, though why they should overestimate its attractiveness in this way is far from clear." The STATESMAN supported the recommendations, added, "the welcome recommendation that there should be more research into the deeper causes of homosexuality is a natural result of listening for a couple years to a stream of contradictory surmise." THE ECONOMIST: Private homosexual behavior between adults does no medical harm to themselves and no harm of any sort to others. There is therefore an issue of human freedom here . . There is no evidence that the change. would expose the young to more frequent dangers of corruption.. If the Government cannot pluck up courage to bring in legislation of its own (and it ought to), then Parlia-

ment should at least be given every facility for a free vote on a private member's bill."

A WORD FOR IT

Thought I knew this gay lingo, till a study of THE HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNITY by Leznoff and Westley published in the Brooklyn College journal, SOCIAL PROBLEMS, Apr 56, defined the term, "queen" as the leader of a homosexual group, "always somebody pretty old and pretty much out of the running as far as getting anything for herself is concerned," a sort of mother hen so to speak. I had always understood the term to refer to any effeminate, elegant one, generally young unless otherwise specified and given to putting on airs, and often a group of swishes would be referred to collectively as "queens." I have heard some define the term as referring only to certain sexual preferences, but this other definition of "THE queen" I had only come across in the Miami Story (ONE, Oct 54) when the police tried to find out if a murdered man had been THE queen of Miami's gay set, and if perhaps a pretender to the throne had done him in.

Actually all gay terms vary from time to place to class. We have problems with other words too. Most girls I've known consider "dyke" offensive, but some prefer that and are startled or insulted if called "Lesbians." How about you readers? How would you define "faggot," "trade," "camp," etc.? What terms do you consider offensive? And just for comparison, what are your social backgrounds? What parts of the country have you lived in? Have you observed different Usages from one area to another?

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