EDITORIAL

The following paragraphs are adapted from an Editorial I wrote some time ago in ONE Magazine which seem as pertinent now as they were then. While having little of Christmas cheer, might they not be read as expressing the hope for more Christian charity than usually comes out from officialdom?

Many minority groups have found themselves compelled to wage their battle on several fronts, internally as well as externally. Homosexuals have been no exception to this rule. ONE exists as a public service organization working in the interests of homosexual men and women and uses various methods for doing so, i.e., monthly and quarterly publications, lectures, classes, social service activities, etc.

These might be said to serve as positive forces in educating the homosexual himself and the general public, but are of themselves not sufficient to do the job. Another activity equally needed is the negative one of countering the misinformation and outright lies continually being foisted upon the public via radio, tv, books and the daily press concerning homosexuals and homosexuality.

ONE has maintained just such a department for many years, its Bureau of Public Information. This Bureau has sent hundreds of corrective letters and much printed material over the years to mayors, judges, police officials, psychiatrists, university administrations, newspapers, magazines, writers-anyone who has made false or abusive statements in print and over the air. On a number of occasions these corrective letters have mercilessly exposed the public irresponsibility of such persons and brought about at least some improvement in their behavior.

The time seems ripe for pressing such charges as libel and slander, now that courts seems to be particularly active in this direction. Where such charges may most effectively and strategically be pressed is a question to be determined by the particular circumstances, but pressed they will and must be one day soon.

Homosexual American men and women are citizens and taxpayers. There is no reason either in law or in morality for their sitting idly by while their hirelings-in the police, Army, Navy, or other civil service