editorial

Inspired by the successes and startling progress recently made by the colored population of this country, it has suddenly become popular among the leaders of the homophile movement to try to advance our own cause by referring to ourselves as a minority entitled to the same rights and privileges which legislators and society at large are struggling to grant to other minorities. In so doing we are apparently trying to get on the band wagon, in the hope that the very word "minority" will touch the heart-strings of our fellowmen who will then hasten to make amends and grant us the rights and privileges we seek. If, however, we really believe this then we have forgotten that man is famous for his inhumanity to man and that he rarely grants to his fellowmen anything which he is not forced to grant either by public opinion or, more frequently, economic pressure.

The Jews learned untold centuries ago that only by acting together, by trading together and prospering together could they hope to survive in a hostile world. As a result they have managed not only to survive but to acquire a sufficiently large share of the world's wealth that they are today a force to be reckoned with in any community. While the individual Jew may not always be accorded the social acceptance he would like, his high-standing in most communities results from his enviable record as a businessman. Hs is respected by those who deal with him on his own terms. Only more recently has the Negro learned that he can benefit in the same way; the current upheaval produced by the response to the minority rights of the Negro is directly and almost fully attributable to his emergence as an economic factor.

Why can the homosexual not also learn and profit from these lessons? Recently a friend of mine asked me to recommend a good doctor. After I had recommended one he asked casually: "Is he gay?" "Yes, to

one

4