for interviews, so that the resulting report is essentially one made on the basis of interviews with self-confessed homosexuals.

According to Mr. Westwood, Trusts and Foundations which had helped other social researches promptly rejected requests for funds for this one. The Medical Committees of some hospitals refused to allow the doctors on their staffs to help. Two organizations which have done much work in the fields of broken marriages and human biology agreed to the rental of one of their rooms for interviews but promptly withdrew the offer when they realized it meant homosexuals would enter the premises. This seems highly laughable when one considers that probably some of their workers and most certainly some of their public who must have been homophiles, though unknown to the organizations, were already doing just that.

Under such circumstances, both Mr. Westwood and the British Social Biology Council are to be commended for their gallantry and persistence in keeping on with their project. Their report may not be the ideal one to which they aspire, but it brings that ideal far closer than any other previously published in book form. As such, all persons belonging to the homosexual minority or interested in its problems should do their best to bring this book to the attention of as large a section of the public as possible.

To cover all the provocative points made is impossible without writing another book to cover them. Thus, among other things, while talking of the etiology of homosexuality and the different theories as to its causes Mr. Westwood shows that many of the interviewees came from homes that were in some way in adequate or in which the father was absent or away for long periods. However, thirty percent of the interviewees were from apparently undisturbed homes and any theory on homophilia's causation has to account for this thirty per cent. And, this is most important of all, it will have to be found how many heterosexuals are from disturbed homes.

Summed up in one phrase, however, the principal value of the book lies in the way it shows that the homophile is a minority group member, as with the Negroes, Jews, Chinese-Americans, Protestants in a predominantly Catholic community or Catholics in a predominantly Protestant community, or any other social, religious, or racial minority living in the midst of a differing majority one. No other author has brought this out so clearly in any previous work.

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It shows that as a differing minority, homosexuals have a cohesive unity forced upon them by the social, legal, and religious pressures under which they exist. As Mr. Westwood summarizes it, a member of this special minority goes through a fourfold progression in his life:

(1). As his friends start to go out with girls and eventually

marry, he finds other interests and gradually drifts away from their company.

(2) He begins to regard himself as an outcast.

(3) He meets other homosexuals and joins a homosexual group.

(4) The homosexual way of life monopolizes his interests and absorbs all his time.

These stages are not mutually exclusive and not all ho. mosexuals graduate through all four stages (he states). Some of them get no further than the second stage and others become members of homosexual groups without losing all touch with the rest of the community.

The first stage usually starts in the late teens or early twenties. Sometimes the individual is scarcely aware of his homosexual tendencies or has not come to terms with them, but gradually he becomes conscious of feelings of isolation..

Ironically enough, as Mr. Westwood comments, this isolation has the result of blocking the integration into the community medical authorities and others wish. They tell, and try to help him to be, a part of it and yet at the same time the over-all situation makes it impossible for the achievement of their aim.

This and the other analyses make the book of inestimable value, not only to the member of the general public who only knows about the subject through vague hearsay but also to the homophile himself. For the former it will be the most complete book now available on the market. For the latter it will be an illuminating aid to self-knowledge. As he reads he will see himself more clearly. He will understand better the pressures and influences that have shaped his life and his understanding will make him more his own master, instead of the helpless victim of circumstances.

With the first decade of work in its highly-sensitive field now completed, Mattachine Society solicits your support for continuation of projects in education, research and social service for the years ahead. The task is a difficult one, but it is easy for you to help. Become a subscribing member (if you are over 21): Send a check or money order to the national headquarters for $15. This includes a subscription to the REVIEW and INTERIM for one year. Active membership Information may be obtained by writing to your nearest area council (see directory on page 3). YOUR HELP IS VITAL -PUT YOUR SUPPORT BEHIND MATTACHÍNE GOALS TODAY!

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