ONE MIDWINTER INSTITUTE

a report by W. Dorr Legg

Planning It All

Director, ONE Institute

Planning the Midwinter Institutes has always been taken seriously by the members of ONE's staff. Since the first in January, 1955, these annual events have come to be considered as the climax, or culmination, of the year's efforts in the field of homophile education.

To review the themes selected and the subjects presented over the years (see ONE Institute Quarterly, Summer 1960) is to trace the evolution and maturing of attitudes concerning homosexuality among those participating. At times hesitantly, yet, unmistakable in direction, has been the trend towards a recognition that homosexuality is a valid way of life and that homosexuals can be selfrespecting members of society without being masked in protective disguises of any sort.

In making preparations for the 1961 Midwinter Institute the Members of ONE, Incorporated held several meetings to discuss plans, finally choosing July 11, 1960, "A Homosexual Bill of Rights" as the topic, directing also that a convention-style format be devised for the program.

Subsequently the Corporation also voted that ONE Institute of Homophile Studies be assigned the task of working out the details and that it devote one of its classes (HS-260, "Theory and Practice of Homophile Education") to that purpose for a full eighteen-week semester, beginning in September, 1960.

By these separate actions the Corporation conclusively determined the theme of the 1961 Midwinter Institute, and also specified that it was to be a project in homophile education.

Thus, any idea that there would be either some majority determination of the outcome or that the theme could be changed in midstream would have been out of order. What was planned was a serious, thoughtful examination of one of the classic problems in ethics and philosophy, i.e., the specific application of general principles concerning rights to an important societal problem.

It was well understood by those attending HS-260 that this was a daring project, one presenting formidable challenges, but this did not deter the class from following out its prescribed duties. They recognized that they must use great care in planning their work, or else they would be courting failure.

Week after week the class examined many various methods proposed for approaching the "Bill of Rights" assignment, soon finding that there were two distinct categories of work they must undertake: (1) the physical planning of a novel arrangement of the sessions themselves; (2) the theoretical, or idealogical, questions arising in connection with the equally novel concept. that homosexuals might have specific rights as homosexuals, rights now generally denied to them.

Very early in the class-work the principle emerged that group engagement should be a guiding principle throughout. It was hoped that those who could not attend the Midwinter sessions, as well as those present, might be made to feel a lively sense of participation in the proceedings, and so a questionnaire was determined upon as a means for achieving this purpose.

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