der to forget the death of a very dear friend whom he loved in a very special way. And he blames Margaret for the death. In fact the friend, in order to avoid suspicion, tried to become Margaret's lover. But because of his very nature, he could not go through with it, became desperate, and killed himself. In the play there is even a vi. brant scene in which Brick, having drunk too much, tells his father the whole truth; carried away by emotion, he even goes so far as to admit to the old man, who believes himself in perfect health, that the latter is suffering from an incurable cancer. In the last scene, finally, Brick implies that he will perhaps succeed in becoming for Margaret what she so much desires and that an heir will be the fruit of the miracle! All that is ugly, artificial, and not even witty I hope people will not be angry with me for not dwelling upon the significance of Tea or Cat. I only regret that authors allow themselves to resort to such pat endings Haven't they after all that spark of genius that is often attributed to them? Is their vivid imagination deserting them? Yet it would be so easy for them to look around, to take from every-day life the real motives for their inspiration. Do they want just such illustration?

Recently, I was in Spain, on the train which goes from Madrid to Malaga. An officer of the Spanish Legion in Morocco took his seat beside me. During the trip of several hours, we had plenty of time to talk on various subjects, a lucky chance since my traveling companion demonstrated a profound knowledge of life and mankind. The conversation did not fail to linger on life in North Africa, on the Legion, and on the men who make it up. At one certain moment, I asked him, "Which ones, among your legionnaires, are the most valiant and those with whom you are most satisfied?"

And he answered, to my great astonishment, "The deviates. Yes, sir, as surprising as that may seem." He evidently did not know to whom he was speaking.

"A single deviate? No. Because he is an aloof man, at times hopeless.

"But circumstance will let him meet a person in his company with a nature identical to his own. Then they form an inseparable couple, scorning gibes and laughter. In case of attack or defense, both prove themselves to be the most courageous, impelled by exceptional daring, leading all the others and making them follow them. Generally, the venture is a failure-the Moors, you know, never forgive! But it still doesn't alter the fact that we have very often emerged vic. torious, thanks mainly to the sacrifice of one of those strange pairs of friends whom I shall never forget."

There, it seems to me, is a reassuring story. And taken from life itself, not pulled in by the horns. It might perhaps be indicated that certain authors could be inspired by it. They would find in it without difficulty the plea for fine plays and good books. As for us, we would appear a little less as a bad lot of evil-doers in the eyes of those who look on us without much tolerance.

mattachine REVIEW

Homosexual Literature

A Partial Picture

by Andre Baudry

Andre BAUDRY is the chief editorial spokesman for ARCADIE, the French monthly published in Paris. We have translated his editorial on homosexual literature in France (which appeared in the November 1956 issue), not only for its intrinsic interest, but also because it so clearly states the aims of the magazine, and its offort to speak with a clear and confident voice for the entire world of the homosexual. If our readers wish, the MATTACHINE REVIEW will reprint other of M Baudry's writings in the future, for the benefit of those who do not have a reading knowledge of the French language.

The public, in order to become acquainted with or to study the homophilic problem, does what it can with the available literature, with the daily press, with those establishments which in France are called "specialized."

Don't try to add scientific works to the list of sources; the public in general does not know about or read them.

But this circumstance, in this as in so many other things, naturally doesn't prevent the public from judging and condemning

On previous occasions we have shown what opinions have to be held concerning the daily or weekly press, when it takes it into its head to speak of homophilia. It looks for nothing but crimes, equivocal stories, acts of violence.

The so-called "specialized" establishments, such as bars and cabarets, too often offer the casual observer only a ridiculous picture of certain kinds of individuals. That is why, for many, homosexuality is made up largely of mannered boys, eccentric in their way of dressing, speaking and walking in a word, "effeminates".