sexual, but it is corrupt to prostitute

the young. It is not corrupt to be ambitious, but it is corrupt to lie and cheat for the sake of advancement. It is not corrupt to want to live well, but it is corrupt to steal and to commit treason. If Redl had turned traitor only to prevent exposure we could at least have sympathised with him. Instead, he accepted money and as his standard of living rose he sought out new buyers for the information he had to sell, new ways of embezzling his own agency's confidential funds. If there had ever been anything solid and honest about him it was destroyed by the thousand little treasons against himself, the compromises and the deceptions. Redl's suicide in a Vienna hotel marked the physical death of a man who had been dying morally for many years.

This book is not likely to do the homosexual cause any good in the public eye. Most homosexuals are subject to blackmail, most are forced to lead lives of deception, deception of family, of friends, of employer, of the police, not just little deceptions but a denial of their fundamental natures. Can this be done without a loss of integrity? Apparently it can-some of the finest people I know are homosexuals. Statistically, though, it may be that homosexuals do not stack up as well as heterosexuals. I cannot say because I have seen no valid figures one way or the other. Of course the public is not interested in statistics, and it has already decided that homosexuals have poor characters. This is used as justifi-

cation for discrimination against them This wildly illogical confusion of cause and effect is even more familiar to Negroes. Statistically Negroes

are a poor lot, and this is advanced as a reason for racial discrimination, ignoring the fact that it was discrim ination that produced the present unfortunate situation.

Whatever statistics may show, the fundamental principle of human relations is that each man should be judged as an individual rather than as a member of a class. To discriminate against a man merely because he is a Negro or merely because he is a homosexual is treason against the human spirit, treason at least as bad as Redl's treason against his country. Judging by categories is easy, it saves time, and it is emotionally satisfying to sick personalities, but it harms both to the judge and the judged.

But what about blackmail--how can anyone subject to blackmail be employed in a sensitive position? One answer is the attitude of one of my commanding officers in army intelligence in Germany. He called us together and told us "I know that every one of you has done something he can be blackmailed for, you're only human. I don't care what you've done, if anybody tries to use this to compromise you I want you to report it to me immediately. If you do that I'll stick by you, but if you don't I'll break your back." would go a long way toward reducing blackmail and the related problem of buying sexual favors with secret

That attitude

mattachine REVIEW

information, but these problems would still exist. They are not limited to homosexuals, of course. Mata Hari was a woman, and heterosexual affairs have compromised far more men than homosexual affairs. Nevertheless, the homosexual is in an unusually vulnerable position, and the security officer must take the world as it is, not as it might be. This seemingly gives a good prima facie case for discriminating against homosexuals in sensitive positions. Even if the homosexual has no secrets from friends, family and employer he still is subject to prosecution and hence blackmail. The primary fault here is with society, not with the homosexual or his employer. Progress in this field probably will have to come after progress in the legal and social fields.

THE PANTHER'S FEAST is well worth reading for its illustration of the tragic potentialities inherent in the low status assigned to homosexuals in western society. The book itself does not probe any profound philosophical depths, but it should lead both the homophile and the non-homophile to do some thinking about the relation and mutual obligations of the individual and society.

The author has the Russian agent who first contacted Redl say to him, "Don't you understand the dirty trick society has played on you, Redl? What do you owe it, what do I owe it, this nebulous mass of hypocrisy that would dance us like puppets on the strings of its precious will? Duty, honor, loyalty, flag, country--bah!

Concepts as empty as the consciences of those who created them, words used by the few to exploit the many, words to gain and hold and wield the power denied to us by poor birth. Do you think I care if you are homosexual? Do you think I care if you dress Joseph like a woman and make love to him? Do you think I stand here to trap you like some forlorn animal? Society has trapped you, Alfred Redl. I am offering you escape." (p. 135)

Many of us have felt like this at times, but it is a barren philosophy, one which can lead only to moral destruction. The individual does have obligations to society, just as society has obligations to the individual. At present society largely ignores its obligations to the homosexual, but this cannot be used as an excuse for the homosexual to ignore his obligations to society. It is ironic that the members of a persecuted minority must always be better men than their persecutors. It is difficult to love our enemy, especially when he is strong and we are weak, but it is the only road to a personal victory, the only hope for an ultimate resolution

of the conflict.

WHAT SEX VARIATIONS ARE NORMAL? This is answered in an unusual book you should read to complete your sex educa tion and understand "others" who are "different."

EMPHASIS IS ON THE HOMOSEXUAL COMPONENTS AND THE DIVERSE SEX LAWS OF THE U. S. A. THAT MAKE ALMOST ALL SEX ACTS A "CRIME!” THEY WALK IN SHADOW by J. D. Mercer $5.95 at your local bookstore OR by mail at $6.25 postpaid (add 24¢ tax in Calif.) from COSMO BOOK SALES Dept. 25 Box 635 San Francisco 1