vantage. We must place ourselves before the world openly, but only when it is possible to do so with discretion and impunity. Above all we must avoid the "frontal attack" for this can only bring violent repercussions.

The average homosexual male, like the average heterosexual male, is highly sexed. And this is reflected in the range and scope of his intellectual and emotional expressions, covering the enormous gamut from the activities of the promiscuous male prostitute to the apex of human achievement and creativeness. Most homosexuals are some where between these extremes, translating their powerful sex drives into strong loves and hatreds in tenacious, but short-lived interests in new projects, movements, cults or friends. And beneath this tempestuous pattern of behavior is usually found the old persistent leitmotiv of unconscious bitterness and hatred directed against brothers and sisters, against parents and relatives, against the heterosexual world and most paradoxical of all against the more effeminate mem bers of their own group. The objects of their consuming bitterness are innocent victims of the vast psychological barrier of silence, exactly as they are. Homosexuals often overlook the sad fact that their families suffer in silence along with them.

This undercurrent of bitterness and hatred is destructive because there is no release from the mounting tension; it is unhealthy because it is misdirected. Irrational temper is weakness but righteous anger is strong and just. The bitterness must be properly directed against the true source of unhappiness – against the antiquated social and legal codes. This anger, however, must be guided and ruled by discipline and logic at all times. It must be strengthening to give us the courage to assert ourselves without shame and without fearto stand before the public with heads erect and deny inferiority without claiming superiority. We must make it known that the average homosexual is neither a depraved degenerate nor a capering exhibitionist. People must be brought to realize that the homosexual can be almost anyone on the street, behind the counter, in the factory, in the office, on the stage, or before a classroom.

Man's life span is but a meteoric flash in the boundlessness of time and space. But the mighty flow of life is imperishable. Is a man not to do more with his brief life than the lower animals? Is he not to pass on to posterity a small fragment of his dreams and hopes a particle of his aspirations, a glimmer of the glory and wonder of life? The great dividing line between man and the lower animals is his superior reasoning power, therefore it is axiomatic that the reasoning individual whose every thought and act is guided by logic is the (Continued on page 21) mattachine REVIEW

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SUBSCRIBING MEMBERSHIP (Non-Voting) was created at the recent 4th Annual Convention of the Mattachine Society in response to many requests from persons living at a distance from established chapters, and from persons living near established chapters who prefer not to participate actively. Princpal purpose of Subscribing Membership is to permit a greater number of persons over the nation to support Mattachine projects with annual donations of funds which are sorely needed to continue the work of the organization. At the same time this status provides evidence of this vital support

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