Puritan

Terror-

Massachusetts: 1961

As told to JOHN LOGAN by Harmon H. and Edward W.

Just how enlightened are the forces of law enforcement and justice in this year 1961 as concerns the subject and manifestation of homosexuality? And just how much do these forces respect the law itself when they come face to face with a homosexual situation which in no way creates any public outrage, but which is one which a state policeman may not approve?

Written between the lines of the following account is a chronicle of colossal ignorance, bigotry and injustice. It happened not far from Salem, where mattachine REVIEW

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witches were once burned at the stake. In the three centuries since that kind of barbarism, we may think we have come a long way, but an instance like the following makes us stop and wonder. You won't feel good about it either when you have read the following.

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Harmon H. and Edward W. are two adult men who have found a deep and meaningful relationship in each other. One of them is Negro. Departing from the West Coast in early August 1960, these men began a long-dreamed of Coast-to-Coast motor trip which started out like the vacation of a lifetime, but wound up a nightmare out of the Dark Ages.

They went to Cincinnati, to New York, and then on to New England. On. the day of September 10 they crossed the boundary into Massachusetts, and then it all began. Here is their story, signed by both, and told in their own words. They have furnished the documentation of the names of persons involved, and submitted with this are "cash slips" which are receipts for fines paid $250.00 each, received by Officer Triffi of Worcester, Mass., in the case of Harmon H., and by Officer Reynolds in the case of Edward W. at a court in that city.

HERE IS THEIR STORY:

Sept. 10, 1960: We were stopped at the state line of Massachusetts (Route 20, Sturbridge, Mass.) by state troopers. They requested that we get out of the car and they began searching the automobile without asking for or obtaining our permission for the search.

Trooper Crocker then said, "I want to continue this matter at the State Police Barracks at Charlton."

He requested Edward W. to follow in his car, taking his operator's license and registration to the officer's state police car. He then ordered Harmon to get in the state police car with him.

At the State Police Barracks, we were separated-Edward W. was taken inside the Barracks, Harmon H. was kept outside by the automobile. Trooper Crocker proceeded to take all the luggage from the automobile which consisted of four pieces (two three-suiters, two Val Packs, one poloroid camera and case, and one box of tapes)

He took all the contents of the luggage and dumped it out on the lawn to to search through it. We were not informed of our constitutional rights. I, Harmon H., asked him about a search warrant for this search, and also why we had been stopped. He stated that we had been first stopped because we had California plates on our car, and that we were a colored and a white person traveling together-Edward W., being colored. He further stated he did not need a search warrant as "Massachusetts did not have fancy laws

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