absences (but not while he is at home) he still leads a homosexual life. But he is worried. "What is going to happen when I stop flying and have to remain at home all the time? I don't think I could ever be exclusively heterosexual."
Cases 4 and 5.-D is a middle-aged doctor, a bachelor, successful and respected. He came from an emotionally secure home, had a happy childhood, has brothers and sisters, attended a boarding-school, and was never seduced by an older person. As a medical student he enjoyed the companionship of women and dancing. At the age of 21 he became engaged to a young woman whom he admired and of whom he was very fond. Intercourse took place often, but, though he was potent, he found it lacking in emotional and physical satisfaction. Finally the engagement was broken off because "the ritual of heterosexual intercourse" became increasingly distasteful to him and because he realised that the marriage, if it took place, would certainly end unhappily. He is sure that his fiancée never suspected the real reason for the break.
At the age of 30 he met E, aged 19, who was illegitimate, had had an unhappy childhood, and believed himself to be homosexual. They lived together for twelve years in mutual affection, respect, and happiness. D was able to bring educational and material advantages to E who now holds a responsible executive position in business. When E was 31 he fell in love with a girl whom he wished to marry. They have now been happily married for about eight years and have three children. D remains the closest of all the family friends, attends them all professionally, and is godfather to the eldest child. E says that he has never behaved homosexually since his marriage.
Case 6.-F, aged 25, is tall, well built, Scandinavian by birth. At the age of 15 he was warned by his mother that some of his friends were suspected of homosexuality and that he should be careful. "But I am homosexual," he replied. His mother told me of this incident. She sought advice from their (Scandinavian) family doctor who explained that her son might well change his mind later, but that, in the meanwhile, nothing would be achieved by argument or recrimination. He stressed that it was most important that the son should feel that he had mattachine REVIEW
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the confidence, sympathy, and understanding of his parents in this matter. In due course the position became accepted by his family who decided that he had had no personal choice in his sexual orientation and that-for better or worse-he had the right to live his private life in his own way.
He is a cheerful extrovert, a keen and proficient ballroom dancer. He has many friends of both sexes but he tells me that he has never at any time in his life experienced any heterosexual desires. Genitalia are well developed but hair distribution is feminine, and he has little, if any, need to shave. He is not effeminate in voice or mannerisms, nor has he any transvestite tendencies. He is a hard and conscientious worker earning over £1500 p.a. in a business which gives him scope for his artistry and originality. He appears to be free from complexes about his anomaly, and says that he is content to be as he is. He is not promiscuous, does not frequent places where homosexuals are known to forgather, and hopes to find a permanent partner. In the meanwhile he has led a vigorous homosexual life in liaisons most of which have lasted several years.
Case 7.-G is a successful farmer, aged about 46. He has an open-air appearance, heavy build, sunburnt complexion, rather stolid manner. He served in the Navy during the war. It was not until he was about 35 that he became fully aware of his sexual orientation. He says that women have never attracted him sexually. He admits that several times during his naval service he was attracted by other men, but he was too frightened to make the first move and none of the others ever did. I do not know the circumstances under which he had his first overt homosexual experience, but he is now leading an active homosexual life-deliberately, I think, trying to make up for lost time. Like so many who discover their homosexual inclinations relatively late in life, he suffers from a guilt complex and from hypochondria.
Before I met him he had consulted a general practitioner who was believed to have had some psychiatric experience. When G explained that he was homosexual the doctor exclaimed "Good God! you don't look like one." The patient tells me that he spent most of the consultation answering, not
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