scandal ("Oh, I never take the sort of risks that one does!") is living in a fool's paradise.

It is not because we love to wallow in juicy scandal, or because we wish to show homosexuals in a bad light that we report cases of homosexuals being beaten, arrested, blackmailed or murdered and yes, even cases of homosexuals doing objectionable, obscene or vicious things.

We print such stories first and foremost to show that many laws in this field, and some law enforcement agencies, in their treatment of homosexuals, offend against true legality, decency, constitutional rights and justice. We are saying that many of these homosexuals ought not to have been arrested, that many laws under which they are daily being arrested are improper and illegal.

Nor is it only the ones who ask for it who get in trouble. Many individuals do behave quite foolishly, considering the risks involved. Nor would we deny that the offensive public behavior of some people homosexual or heterosexual-merits a degree of legal restraint. But though it might seem that those whose homosexuality is most public stand the greatest chance of getting in trouble, many police actually by-pass obvious queens and hustlers (unless a colorful bar raid is needed to juice up a lagging political campaign, or divert public attention from serious police scandals) and deliberately go after the harder-to-identify types. Even if arrested, the homosexual whose life is already an open book stands to lose far less than the secret homosexual. It is the secret ones whose presence generates the greatest public animosity. People may laugh uneasily at the outrageously obvious queen, but the idea that their own handsome, manly looking cousin, or neighbor, or bosom buddy, is "one of those" really curdles their blood (excepting those individuals who are not bothered by the subject at all). And to the typical cop, the secret homosexuals will appear all the more dangerous just because you can't spot them a mile off.

So when you read these terrible little stories about things that are happening to homosexuals every day, don't say smugly, "It can't happen to me" or "it's no concern of mine." If you are sensible, it probably won't happen to you, but it is wise to know how to handle such a situation in case it does happen. And it is the concern of every homosexual — of every human.

Lyn Pedersen, Associate Editor