tangents

news & views

by sal mcintire

NO GUTS IN FLORIDA?

Florida is still the scene of the most vicious persecution of homosexuals. That Special Legislative Investigating Committee is really going to town. They are now in the midst of investigating public employees, and especially school employees and ways to obtain enough evidence on suspects where if threats don't work they can get the teaching certificates revoked. They have blatantly said these are their three objectives:

1) Requiring all state employees to be fingerprinted as a means of checking previous arrest records for sex and other offenses.

2) Establishing a policy of revoking the state contribution to retirement benefits of all state employees convicted of sex offenses.

3) Recommending and working toward establishment of a national center for reporting cases of homosexuality and for identifying those convicted of homosexual crimes.

Odd, that while progress is made in other states, and just as we've had the first state (Illinois) follow the recommendations of the National Bar Association and make homosexual acts between adults in privacy no crime, that another state should so retrogress. Florida has never been noted as being one of Our more progressive states, but then it hadn't been at the bottom, either. That's where it's going now. That any legislative committee dares publish such objectives as above for each one is unconstitutional is flagrant. Are there in Florida no homosexuals with sense

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and guts enough to hunt down a clear-minded attorney and stand up and fight?

L.A. PRESS NOW RESPECTS COURT: The Calif. Supreme Court's ruling in the famed Carol Lane Case (see TANGENTS, March, '62), which knocked L.A.'s vicious "resorting law" in the head, and which caused L.A. newspapers to sputter and carry on like they thought nobody but Mr. & Mrs. Grundys ever bought their papers, is now getting different treatment. The press now shows some respect for the Court and doesn't make like it's a bunch of lewd crackpots. And probably for good reason. When the city officials put their arguments for an appeal before the Court, one of Chief Justice Gibson's caustic remarks was, "These are good speeches to make to the newspapers but not to this Court!" A paper reported the Chief Justice had also "made blunt and disparaging reference to the statements by city officials following the December ruling," and since not a one of those remarks are quoted, and also since the story is NOW buried on page eleven instead of front page, we bet he said some things about the press, too!

PARET vs. GRIFFITH:

That's the lead on Pete Hamill's article in the 3/26/62 NY POST on the feud between the two prizefighters that ended when Paret (from Cuba) died from the beating he took from the welterweight king. And some story it is!

Whispers started over the highpitched voice, exaggerated mannerisms, and extreme dress of Griffith, a clothes designer outside the ring. And Paret kept shooting off his mouth-"I hate that kind of guy," and "A fighter's got to look and talk and act like a man." When a Broadway column hinted about it, Griffith said "People see me with

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