It is hard to believe that Mother Nature needs our police to protect her from her creatures. If such a nonsensical expression as "crime against nature" can be used at all, it should be only in the case of abortion, where an interference of the bodily function of birth takes place. But this crime could only refer to heterosexuals.

According to the research of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, only about 8% of homosexuals practice the anal act. In Illinois all other forms of homosexual intercourse were handled as disorderly conduct-but only if practiced openly. When the State of Illinois later amended the sodomy provision, oral acts were also included. Since most homosexuals have their dealings with partners who are also guilty of sodomy, and in the privacy of their homes, an arrest for sodomy rarely occurs. This is why few are frightened by the heavy penalties for sodomy (life imprisonment in Georgia). The absurdity of the Illinois law in 1925 is obvious. Yet it was substantially better than most other States.

Jesus was allegedly betrayed by one of his intimate male circle of twelve apostles. The Society for Human Rights' downfall also happened to come from within. We had agreed to make our organization a purely homophile Society, and we had argued and decided to exclude the much larger circle of bisexuals for the time being. Neither I nor John, our elected president, had been conscious of the fact that our vice-president, Al, was that type. In fact, we later found out that he had a wife and two small children. I had once visited him at his home on Rush Street, but had no idea that the woman living next door was his wife.

One Sunday morning about 2 a.m., I returned from a visit downtown. After I had gone to my room, some-

one

one knocked at the door. Thinking it might be the landlady, I opened up. Two men entered the room. They identified themselves as a city detective and newspaper reporter from the Examiner. The detective asked me where the boy was. What boy? He told me he had orders from his precinct captain to bring me to the police station. He took my typewriter, my notary public diploma, and all the literature of the Society and also personal diaries as well as my bookkeeping accounts. At no time did he show a warrant for my arrest. At the police station I was locked up in a cell but no charges were made against me. In the morning I was given permission to call my boss who, for my work's sake, fixed my status as "absent on leave."

un-

With a few other persons, known to me, I was taken to the Chicago Avenue Police Court where I also found John the preacher and Al the laundry queen and a young man who happened to be in Al's room at the time of arrest. No one knew what had happened. A friendly cop at the station showed me a copy of the Examiner. There right on the front page I found this incredible story:

Strange Sex Cult Exposed

The article mentioned Al who had brought his male friends home and had, in full view of his wife and children, practiced "strange sex acts with them. Al's wife had at last called a social worker who reported these "strange doings" to the police. A raid of the flat, the report continued, had turned up John, a preacher, and Henry, a postal employee, and all were put under arrest. Among the effects in Al's flat they found a pamphlet of this "strange sex cult" which "urged men to leave their wives and children."

What an outright untruth; what a perversion of facts! John was alone in his room when arrested. and I