these changes, most people still are quite shocked by homosexual behavior. It is thought of as something that should be eradicated. The homosexual, for his part, reacts to this by thinking of society's attitudes as hostile, and by thinking that homosexuality not only should not be eradicated but condoned and, possibly, even, I dare say, in the minds of some, encouraged.

I believe that both of these attitudes are equally wrong and equally irrational. What is needed is an approach that has as its aim the furthering of the greatest sexual happiness, the best sexual adjustment for the largest number of people and for every individual concerned. Obviously, the hostile, sneering, snickering, repressive attitude of society is not going to get to the roots of what brings forth homosexuality, nor is it going to help the people involved. Thus, this attitude is, in the end, irrational because it is not reducing either the growth or the continuation of this behavior. On the other hand, the attitudes of many homosexuals, including, I dare say, some that have gathered around these movements, are, in my opinion, equally disastrous for the reason that they are directed only toward the repressive attitudes of society instead of being directed toward an understanding of what causes difficulties of this nature and in this type of life.

I believe that a rational approach toward homosexuality would have to assume that no form of sexual behavior is in and of itself wrong, or can be wrong, but that the consequences of such behavior on the individuals involved, whether physical, psychological, or social, are what must be taken into account. With this premise in mind, I find that what society has done in recent years, in the continuation of its repressive attitudes, despite the certain amount

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of relaxation which has taken place, is that it has failed to examine its own responsibility in creating large numbers of unhappy and disturbed people, and that while evading this responsibility it has focussed its attention on trying to make these people even more unhappy and more disturbed. The result is that it has been neither preventive nor therapeutic, and on both scores it is completely irrational.

A research program of a psychological and sociological characterand I am not impressed by most of those that I have heard about-that would examine the roots of homosexuality in our family system, in our social behavior, in our psychological attitudes, might be the very thing that society should do in order to solve this problem, instead of continuing its futile and self-defeating repressive measures.

And this brings me to my second point which is, namely, that one would have to say that the prevention of the development of homsexuality -to whatever degree that it can be prevented is desirable. And this I do believe to be true, much as some of the people here may not like this particular formulation. I do not believe that it is desirable because this form of behavior is wrong, nor because it is immoral, nor because it has been defined as being illegal, but I do believe that the prevention of such development is desirable because it is, for the most part, in most cases, in this society, and in this culture, a development that is an outgrowth of, and concomitant with, other personality difficulties and disturbances that are hard to handle.

This does not mean that the movement centered around the Mattachine and ONE is wrong. The fact that such disturbances and difficulties are hard to handle does not mean that society should make them harder. Quite the contrary. It is all the more reason

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