SEPTEMBER MONTHLY MEETING

SOLOMON

MACHOVER. Ph. D., eminent paychologist and researcher, professor at the College of Medicine, Department of Paychiatry of the State University of New York, will speak on:

"ALCOHOLISM AND HOMOSEXUALITY"

The monthly meeting will be held at Yugoslav Hall, 405 West 41st Street, at 8:30 P. M. As usual, an informal dinner precedes the meeting in the air-conditioned restaurant in the basement at 7:00.

Dr. Machover's past experiments have been primarily concerned with the study of alcoholism, which appears to be connected in many cases with repressed homosexuality. His talk will outline the opinions generally held in the psychiatric field and previous research that has been conducted on this subject,

Dr. Machover will also head the experiments and tests conducted upon Mattachine volunteers by the State University of New York. The results of these tests may prove invaluable to the study of alcoholism and its causes.

AUGUST MÓNTHLY MEETING

A controversial talk was given by DONALD WEBSTER CORY, author of "HOMOSEXUALS IN AMERICA, ""21 VARIATIONS" and "HOMOSEXUALITY A CROSS-CULTURAL APPROACH," Mr. Cory was well received by the group and some of the points of his speech are outlined below.

Mr. Cory feels that much progress has been made for the homosexual cause in the past generation. This has been due to the throwing off of Victorianism, the emancipation of women and changing modes of thinking.

In the past, the defenders were defenseless, but now times have changed to the point that the leadership of thinking is ahead of the thinking of the masses. Attempts at sympathy and understanding are being made more frequently. We are starting to hear ideas of helping the homosexual adjust to society and of helping him or her lead a happy life. Advanced intellectual groups and writers are now taking a sympathetic Ktitude, rather than the former one of ridicule.

Mr. Cory believes, however, that we are now finding champions of normalcy within homosexuality who may be distorting their thinking in order to equate homosexuality with heterosexuality. He stated that showing well-adjusted homosexuals as a sample of homosexuality is wrong because it isn't true. Rather, we should show homosexuality and all its disturbances just as it is, if we wish the sympathy and understanding of Society.

He felt that a homosexual should compromise with society in the following ways:

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1. By fully understanding his problem.

2. By giving light and truth to his problem.

3. By not shutting the door on heterosexuality from the point of social contact and the possibility of becoming a heterosexual.

THE WOMAN'S VIEWPOINT

There is an erroneous impression that Mattachine is run exclusively by and for men. This has been partly caused by the absence of articles and stories in the Mattachine Review dealing with the problems of women. Also, all but one of the Society's officers are men. The fact is, however, that Mattachine is most anxious for women leaders, and there is great need for stories and articles by and for women. For those who are shy about attending a meeting where the membership body seems to be predominantly male, a new group is being formed to discuss the problem of the Lesbian. But whatever meetings you may wish to attend, one thing is certain: you will immediately feel at home; you will be among friends who understand you.

The August 10th. discussion on permanent relationships particularly benefited by women's contributions. A lovely newcomer supplied living proof that a permanent relationship is indeed very much possible provided, of course, that there is genuine devotion and that both per sons are sufficiently mature.

The Lesbian novel "Wind Woman" was the subject for another discussion which brought out some rather original and positive opinions from those attending with regard to the problems a homosexual faces in her adjustment to heterosexuals.

"Club des Femmes, an old French film seen in a New York revival by one of the editors, seems worthy of mention in the Newsletter. The "Club" is a French hotel for women, something like the YWCA on a lavish scale. The unlikely plot features the extremes of behavior of women in a cloistered environment runs the gamut from unmarried motherhood to more or less repressed Lesbianism. Its tragic theme centers about the story of a young woman who has been enticed into a "call girl" racket and the intense reactions of the girl who loves her. In a shocking sequence, the young lover, aware that her friend will not return, poisons the woman who has served as procurateur. Justice is served, however, when she is sent away by the doctor (who might be a Lesbian a la "Well of Loneliness) who guesses her guilt, to become a volunteer nurse in a leper colony. Danielle Darrieux presents the completely heterosexual in a charming subplot, and the tenor of the movie as a whole is rather amusing, despite the rather fantastic poisoning scene. Many scenes in this film appear to have been cut in the middle; as a result, the homo sexual element loses much of its meaning, carries little message for the individual who would wish to understand this segment of humanity. The film is, however, of interest to those who enjoy women on the screen... only one young man appears, and he is disguised as a woman for the greater part of the film!

"Odd Girl Out, a Gold Medal Book by A. Bannon, is now available at certain book stores. The author may possibly be a young married woman If this is NOT the case, the insight she shows into the mind and machinations of a normal young woman undergoing a homosexual affair is even more extraordinary. Women may like the honesty and sincerety of the author in portraying the two young women, one homoand one heterosexual.