In a sense, perhaps, the title of this article may be pretentious, so I shall begin with a word of modest apology, and this will no doubt be the only element of modesty that will appear under my name at this time. For the word "Report," when attached to a book on sex, suggests the monumental, historic, and indubitably significant works of the Institute for Sex Research works which have come to be known as the Kinsey Reports. From a viewpoint of the scope of the study, the methodical and scientific manner in which the findings were presented, and the extraordinary influence on American and world thinking, the Kinsey Reports are unmatched in the history of literature. No work except the Holy Bibleand possibly, but not certainly, the totality of the writ-

gy, it received but one panning. And during the period since its publication, it was reviewed in a way that few books can claim; in a manner that, in the field of homosexuality, might be compared to the reception of The Well of Loneliness: namely, I received approximately two thousand letters from all over the world, from men and women, from homosexuals for the most part and occasionally from their mothers or friends, and from very old and extremely young a few anonymous but mostly containing names and addresses. What did these letters say? Mainly: thank you, Mr. Corythank you for speaking up. Some were more interesting and involved and challenging, some were personal, some took issue with certain of my statements, but mostly they were letters

From the First to the Second Cory Report by Donald Webster Cory

ings and teachings of Sigmund Freud

has had the influence on sex beliefs, attitudes, and philosophies as can be claimed for the Kinsey Reports. To stand on the same shelf with it. Cory makes no claim; in fact, although The Homosexual in America was conceptualized before I had ever heard of Kinsey (as I shall presently describe), it might not have been written, probably could not have gained a publisher, and certainly would not have had the influence that it did (and still does) were it not preceded by the work of the team in Indiana.

When The Homosexual in America appeared, it was despite Kinsey a bombshell. Widely reviewed in popular and laymen's magazines and newspapers, as well as in scholarly journals in the fields of sociology and psycholo-

from the depth of despair. Most saw in this work a ray of hope, a beginning, that might lead who knows

where?

A dozen years have passed since The Homosexual in America or, as I shall take the liberty after the introductory explanation of calling it, the First Cory Report. During this time I have not remained entirely silent. Now and then I wrote an article for ONE Magazine (for a time I served as a contributing editor); spoke at ONE, Mattachine, and other homophile meetings in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, and elsewhere; addressed college audiences, private groups, professional groups, and others; and contributed an occasional article to popular journals, technical journals, and finally to The

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