•

Under the New York law of today, those who have reached their majority and enter into homosexual acts with the mutual consent can commit nothing more than a misdemeanor. And for homosexuals to commit a misdemeanor in this situation the act would usually have to be accompanied by a breach of the peace, the concomitant injury of a rightfully interested third party, or, if the act were committed in public, as in an automobile.

Some of us might want to take issue with attomey Spence about husband and wife committing the

} "crime against nature." We have some evidence that there are married heterosexuals who do commit the "crime against nature" and we do not fully understand why they should be made an exception. But we won't argue the point at great length. Spence has made an important contribution to the subject in his article.

Bin nearly all jurisdictions a misdemeanor is a crime that provides for a fine or a year. or less in jail. A felony brings more than a year in prison.

MATTACHINE COCIETY

SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION--MAY 14-15, 1955

Second annual convention of the Mattachine Society will be held May 14-15 at Los Angeles, Calif. A new feature of the 1955 convention will be a first day's program open to the general public.

Program for the first day opens . with registration at, 100 a.m. Registration fee is $100, which must have been paid in advance.

Four 45-minute panel discussions will comprise the afternoon program. followed by a banquet in the evening.

Second day of the convention is for members only. It will be a general session, with business matters, election of officers, and general discussions of the 'Society's program and projects.

ما

تا

Those persons interested in attending the May 14 session and banquet should apply in writing to Convention Chairman, Mattachine Society, Inc., P.O. Box 1925, Los Angeles

10 ..

UUILI

53, Calif. Request should be accompanied by a registration fee of $1.00 for the daytime session, plus $3.50 for a banquet ticket if desired. Registration card, banquet ticket and other information, including exact location where these events will be held, will be sent by return mail. Reservations must be in by May 5.

Here is the program released by the chairman of the Society:

SATURDAY, MAY 14

Registration (Fee: $1.00) 11:00 am, PANEL DISCUSSIONS:

Research

......

1:00 p.m. 2.00 p.m.

Legislative-Legal Public Relations Organization ...........

BANQUET

......

Speaker: Awards

SUNDAY, MAY 15 General Session

3:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 6:30 p.m.-

10:00 am.

mallachine REVIEW

Treatment of the SEX OFFENDER in DENMARK

By Paul W. Tappan

tions.

Dr. Tappan paid maximum attention to the effect of castration of males as a means of preventing re-

"Treatment of the Sex Offender in Denmark" is the title of a paper writ ten by Paul W. Tappan. Ph.D. Jur. Sc.D., New York City, upon return from a trip to several European coun-peated sex offenses. Only highlights tries for the purpose of study. Specifof his report are presented here.. ically, he visited Denmark, Holland. Germany and Sweden. He discussed the problem of handling "sex psychopaths" with authorities, visited institutions and made first hand observa-

Dr. Tappan's research was supported in part by grants from the American Philosophical Society and by the American Social Hygiene Association. *

A great amount of attention has been devoted to the abnormal sex offender in the United States in recent years. Widespread anxiety has been stimulated by an apparent increase in sex crime and more especially by the fulminations of the press against the sex maniac." The result has been a hysterical haste to apply heroic but naive and ill-considered measures... Popular thinking and official action have been misled by an assortment of myths relating to the criminal sex deviate...

During the summer of 1950 the writer talked with leading psychiatric and legal authorities in several countries, particularly in Denmark, that have employed special approaches in their work with sex offenders and inspected treatment facilities that are being used...

The most that one may conclude from the evidense thus far available is that there does exist a rather distinct group of sexdeviated habitual offenders who are nonpsychotic but distorted in their emotional and volitional responses...(who) engage in repetitive, compulsive, and dangerous crimes. But they constitute, a very small percentage of all sex offenders...

The most striking single feature of the programs in these European countries... is the employment of castration as a method of therapy for certain cases... moreover, where this treat ment has been tested extensively, it has received rather strong, though not indiscriminate or uncritical, endorsement.... Statutes vary considerably in the several countries as to the circumstances under which the surgery may be performed, the 'ideology supporting the policy, the types of institutions used for the sex offenders,

Χ.

་་