fessions, all of them conforming to traditional, not to say medieval, formulae. Certain inconsistencies are notable. Dr. M. T. Faruki, director of Dayton State Hospital, is reported as describing a homosexual as "a basic sex deviate, who frequently engages in other types of degenerate acts. He is a man inacceptable medically and socially, and is considered a deviate by the medical profession. Medical and scientific men feel homosexuality is a criminal thing. We regard the act as other normal members of the community do, although our medical attitude is one of scientific bafflement rather than contempt." In contrast with this statement, scarcely believable as coming from a scientist of any description, is that of local police officials, who reportedly say:"The homosexual, apparently a normal person physically, who is attracted to his own sex, is not to be confused with a sex deviate. The sex deviate, considered a much more dangerous man, is a criminal who preys on the opposite sex." Again, it is reported that "The increase in homosexuality is nationwide, crime statistics show." But, according to Dr. Faruki, above quoted, "psychiatrists and medical men are aware of no increase in homosexuality, rather feeling that it has always existed, but is now practiced more openly." And so "authoritative" opinion continues on its dizzying merry-go-round.
The article emphasizes the rather common but nonsensical legal criticism of homosexual behaviornamely, that it "leads to an increase in crime"-without pointing out what the public often overlooks, that it is the laws against homosexual behavior which make it a crime to begin with, and open the door to blackmail, prostitution, and other activities which are ac-
tually and in effect criminal, and injurious to the public. The "Volstead" Act, which, for a few unhappy years, created a Federal crime out of the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, and thus ushered in the phenomena of gangsterism and "organized crime" as we know it today, was precisely parallel in its legal and social effects. Perhaps one of the most important sociological lessons to be learned today is that "crime" is purely a legal invention, not a valid category in the field of morals, and certainly not in the field of science.
Reporter Donahue also cites spreading male prostitution among juveniles teenagers who "have found they can make an easy buck by selling themselves to homosexuals." It is not explained, however (nor, ONE thinks, is it explainable) why at a certain age homosexual behavior is not "homosexual," but merely "juvenile delinquency" or "prostitution," while at a slightly different age it becomes "homosexual." This is simply another instance of the chaotic thinking which prevails in contemporary legal opinion.
After describing a cross-section of the Dayton gay crowd as gleaned from a few bars and from police. and medical records, and after recounting an interview with "Paul," a Dayton homosexual who pretty well conforms to the clinical stereotype, Miss Donahue's article concludes by calling for a "demand by public for action on homosexuality." The question to be resolved, as reportedly (and, ONE thinks, very sensibly) put by Lt. Thurman, head of Dayton's vice squad, is:"Do we consider homosexuality abhorrent as we have in the past? Do we label it a crime against society, and therefore try to suppress, outlaw and prosecute it? Or
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