If we are going to make our approach toward the truth of value, we have to begin with the newest psychological tools available. Too many schools of thought are still attempting their research with the implements of Descartes, nearly four centuries old. His dichotomy of "subject and object," passed on by Freud to his followers and students, has long ago become obsolete. The refreshing voice of contemporary thought on this subject permeates the entire 2097 pages of the new American Handbook of Psychiatry just released.

Martin Heidegger's insistence that it is necessary to introduce the "time dimension in any understanding of actual human existence" not only makes sense in this atomic era, but is vitally necessary. We have allowed our entire life to be ruled by the clock. Now there are those who would introduce the clock to rule over our feelings, conscience and actions with respect to sexual matters. Such advocates might as well attempt to stop the sun from rising, for there are certain natural human actions that defy all outside influences. Erwin Straus, speaking of the time element and its relationship to psychology, states: "Time is to psychology what mathematics is to physics.'

None are closer to the problems that arise in the sexological field than the social workers in the Mattachine Society's offices. Daily these social workers are faced with the frustrations, biases and developing neuroses which assail the homophile. "The fact that sexual perversions are punishable by law is meeting with increasing opposition based upon the view that sexual morality is a private matter and should be subject to public regulation only if (1) the acts are carried on in public places; (2) one of the partners is a minor, or (3) violence or coercion is involved. Particularly the opinion that homosexual practices should not be subject to legal sanctions receives support from contemporary psychiatry." (This is quoted from the American Handbook of Psychiatry, published by Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1959.)

The instant we attempt to deal with the situations of the homophile, or for that matter any form of sex deviation, we are faced with the philosophical definition of "being." It is good to remember that "being," when used in this sense is a verb form, not a noun form or thing. Man is not a gathering together or a collection of static substances or "mechanism or patterns" but a being who is always in process of emerging or "becoming." The very term "existence" comes from the Latin root ex sistere, meaning to "stand out," to emerge.

Fortunately we are gradually emerging into the freer field of psychological study dealing with what, for lack of a better term, I call "normal behavior." By this I mean the behavior and practices engaged in by Jim and Jane Doe, by and large, are conducted without the thought that there is anything abnormal or wrong in what they are doing-even if some of their practices are illegal in a strict sense. They feel free, naturally free. However, research has disclosed the prohibitions or the encouragement as directed by ill-informed parents often fosters much of the sexual deviation (male and female, heterosexual and homosexual) that exists.

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Ironically, if pushed into a corner, the parents are the first to dole out severe punishment or sponsor the enactment of stupid laws to cover up their own negligence and ignorance.

Our psychological text books have been so crammed almost exclusivelywith what has been termed "abnormal" in dealing with sex, that comparatively few have been willing to consider the practical use of psychology. A person will wait a long time before he is willing to acquiesce to being at least partially abnormal in order to feel justified in going to a psychologist or psychiatrist. Reduction or breakdown of this erroneous thinking has fortunately led many persons to avail themselves of the free interchange of thought, especially with respect to matters pertaining to 'sex. To be of maximum value and utility in promoting advantages to the future societal evolution, human thought on matters of of sex must be formed into a common pool, from which the benefits of this thought knowledge and experience on the subject may be disseminated readily and easily. The Mattachinë, through its services to members and others seeking aid and guidance, has been one of the pioneer organizations in dealing with group therapy. Almost unknowingly many members receive "treatment" which is quite helpful-merely by taking part in the Society's work. Mattachine discussion forums are really a therapeutic social club. Especially does this type of therapy offer great help to the homophile who has been discharged from a hospital or mental or penal institution. In free discussion the individual is given the opportunity to correlate his own problems with the material presented by others. If the leadership is alert and well-informed on the subject under discussion, the mental struggle of the participants for status in the group has a stimulating and beneficial effect. Through the recording of these group therapy meetings, invaluable data is passed on to research expert.

I mentioned above a "common pool" of knowledge, thought and experience. Two qualifications must be made about this pool. First, it should not be so uni versal that original thinking is lessened, and second, it should be free from outside restrictions and inner dogmatism so that it can evolve in itself. This pro, duces new ethics, new knowledge and new experience. Objectivity in thought is also important here, so that the search for knowledge is a search for truth, as unbiased as humanly possible. This will mean that, from the scientific viewpoint at least, no one variety of ethics can justifiably be held to be more "right" than any other.

Ultimately only personal preference lets us say "life, happiness and self-fulfillment are good." But say this we can, from the dark and rippling walls of our innermost being, and it can be as absolute a guide for us as ever the revelations of the spirit were to a mystic or a saint. We must believe and have the conviction that what is ethically right is related in some way to what is materially true, to be in a large measure self-justifying. Even more specifically must we realize