REVIEW EDITOR: My experiences with the Mattachine Society have been rewarding and beneficial. I shall never regret the time which I have spent in its service. To see a group of persons unselfishly devoted to an organization which would protect the rights of so many untold individuals, and whose ideals are as elevating and constructive as those of the Mattachine, provides a constant challenge to each of us to discharge our duty and responsibility in furthering this work. I have seen the Mattachine Society grope in trepidity and insecurity. I have seen its officers make wrong decisions, its members falter and go away disillusioned. But through this period of painful maturing, I have been privileged to see an organization and a group which embody all the noble aspirations of those whom I would wish to speak for the homosexuals in America, and of the world. The mistakes which the Society has made have not crumbled the ideals and the visions of its leaders. The unselfish devotion to duty and the countless hours of service performed by the Board of Directors are evidences of the faith and the optimism with which they face such a formidable task.

As I have contemplated the role which I could play in this organization now when I am removed from its organized activities, I came to the conclusion that the best method I can employ to further the aims of the Mattachine is to inform others in an inauspicious and intelligent way of the work which the Mattachine is doing. One after another of my heterosexual friends, whether they knew of my inversion or not, have been given literature about the Society. The aims and principles, the scope, and the activities of the Society have been explained. Everywhere I have met with responsive understanding. On the train, during my frequent visits to California, I commenced conversations which very often led into the Society and the important place it can and does fill to alleviate the misunderstanding and bigotry of the heterosexual majority towards the homosexual. Each one of these conversations brought the condition of the harmless homosexual in our society to someone interested, and through this interest much can be accomplished.

Each person who wholeheartedly accepts the cause of Mattachine, must understand and accept his responsibility in it somewhat as a crusade. He must be able to see beyond personal idiosyncrasies and selfishness, toward the higher goal of the common good of the group as a whole. Then, and not until then, can he become an effective force in the Mattachine movement. The road is not easy, and often discouragement obscures the goal. But the strength of Mattachine is not only that it exists after these several years but that it is today more solidly built upon a rational and realistic foundation. It is the strength of Mattachine that a small nucleus of workers still remains from the very beginning of the Society, that this group has not given up nor allowed seemingly insurmountable obstacles to obscure their vision of the goal of sexual equality. It is this strength and positiveness which persons everywhere are responding to, and which makes them willing to share in its work, and in its glory. There are still changes to be made, adjustment not only to the growth of the organization itself but to the moral atmosphere of society in general. It is up

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mattachine REVIEW

to the leadership of Mattachine to recognize the need for these periodic changes and move along, not become stagnant in satisfaction over past achievement.

The heritage of the Mattachine Society and the homosexual group is great. The challenge of great achievements of those of our own group should always impel us toward the same creativity and elevation with which they lived and brought forth their work, that even we today can enjoy. This heritage carries with it a constant challenge. It is a challenge which faces each one and all of us who are a part of the homosexual group. It is a challenge that cannot easily be cast aside by a claim of false individualism. It is a) challenge which could provide in our lives the impetus of growth and service which perhaps would take away much of the unhappiness which we now may feel. Realizing that we are pioneers for freedom, speaking not only for our own selves or our own group, but indeed for countless others who suffer the infringement of personal rights in any form, we may take courage and strength from our understanding of our individual responsibility and go on to make even greater contributions to this cause. I am proud to be a part of Matta chine, to be counted as one of the supporters of an organization which "speaks for Man," to be able to visualize the fulfillment of the goal for which we work, and to be able to share in the glory of that goal as it is being obtained. I pray God that the heritage which is ours may daily provide the challenge to make us go on in unselfish devotion until our goal has been reached and our destiny fulfilled.

REVIEW EDITOR:

L-Mr. E. V. G., Utah

Because the success of Mattachine depends largely

on how effectively it communicates ideas, the Society might well adopt semantics as a method of turning spears into plowshares and hostility into support. The aim of the semanticist is to explore the subtle, intangible and elusive relationship between language and thinking, between meaning and words the psychological effect

of words we use and hope will eventually bring about a clearer, more accurate thinking by clearer, more accurate ways of speaking and writing. Semantics is the simple observance of journalistic economy plus the avoidance of words that cause disagreeable sensations (euphony), or disagreeably expressing something that can be expressed more agreeably about disagreeable matters (euphemism).

The use of "homophile" in place of "homosexual" is a step in the right direction. Even though the word is obscure it has a more agreeable 'sound. The Greek "homos" means "same" and the word "hoThe Latin mosexuality" stems from it. "homo" means "man." One might say, the word "homo" used in either sense is harmless and innocuous. But as an abbreviation of homosexual it seems to carry Homosexuals who a feeling of derision, no matter who utters it. employ it do so flippantly; non-homosexuals who use it, if of a certain hostile breed, use it in a derogatory sense, as if with distaste. For some reason homosexuals have inherited the word "deviate." Even though broadly it means departure from the normal, it has somehow become a synonym for homosexuality, whereby homo-