forget the whole matter. He will not profit by any advice he might receive and might as well have not wasted anyone's time, including his own.

During the years I have worked with the Mattachine Society, there have been hundreds who have come to me seeking help of one kind or another. Some have been those in the category of wanting to be helped, and they have received help. Many have been those in the latter category and they have not received help and in many instances have indeed wasted both my time and theirs. Now this is not unusual at all when one is working in a social service agency of any type. But when one is working with an unusual organization such as Mattachine, it is a nusance and a hazard.

Why do I say this? Because, this organization is not any usual type of organization. First of all, it operates on a shoe-string and a mighty frayed one at that. It has no big grants of funds behind it. It has no little grants, either. It has some verbal support but very little financial support. On the other hand it has a hell of a lot of mud and dirt thrown its way.

How many places can you go in these United States today with a problem that deals with some kind of adult sex variation and receive any help at all or even be able to discuss that problem freely? There are very few. You can count them on the fingers of one hand. Now it would stand to reason that if this were the case-and it is-then everyone concerned would want to help in the support of those few organizations or groups. But my dear friends, reason just flew out the window for that is not the case. The number of persons who verbally support these organizations can be numbered in the hundreds, not the thousands as one would expect. And those who financially support these organizations are much fewer still.

I want to cite a few examples now of the typical attitudes that are held in regard to this matter. These examples are found among those who, one would think, should have the most to gain by their support.

Case No. 1 is representative of a very large group of persons that could conservatively be classed as the "barfly." This individual seems to think that the one most important factor in life is to see how many bars he can make in a weeks time and how much money he can spend on liquor while he is at it. He can spend quite a bit too. Anywhere from fifty to 250 dollars per month in seeking the pleasures of this pastime. Is it necessary? No it is not, except to the bar owner who is able to increase his bank account rather steadily. Why is it then that this individual feels it necessary? It could be for several reasons. He feels lonely and rejected and feels that only in a bar can he feel less lonely and less rejected. But, if anyone is truthful with himself he will have to answer that there really is no place quite so lonely as a bar. Just go into one sometime and see for 'yourself-that is—if you don't fall in this category. Now this type of individual is asked to help supmattachine REVIEW

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port our organization. I have to say our organization-meaning Mattachine -because quite frankly, that is what I am talking about. His answer is often a simple, "I can't afford to help." What he really means is that he plainly and simply does not want to help anyone-not even himself.

Case No. 2 is representative of another rather large segment of our population. This individual when approached for support may say, "Why should I support that group? I have no need for anything it can offer me." However, this is the individual who calls us by phone at the drop of a pin to ask us what to do now that he is in trouble or needs advice. So we freely give him the answer he seeks. He is overwhelmed. He cannot stop thanking us enough for being able to help him. He hangs up-out of sight, out of mind. Just as soon as he is safely out of trouble or his problem is solved, his comment becomes, "Mattachine, what's that?"

Case No. 3 represents another group which I believe is also large in number. The typical answer of this individual when approached for support is, "I don't want to support your group because, well, really others are doing it, arn't they, and I don't feel like I can really afford to, and after all, what can it do for me personally?" This is the same group that doesn't bother to vote because, "Why bother? Let someone else vote. I haven't time." Or, if truthful, he would admit he wasn't a registered voter in the first place. Perhaps he cannot be concerned about either national or international affairs because, "really why bother aren't there others who are supposed to do that?" In plain facts this is the group of "really why bother" and sometime I wonder really why bother with them at all anyway. But it is this group that needs not only to help support such an organization as Mattachine, but also needs to help themselves. These are the sheep that are content to be led forever to the slaughter simply because they cannot be bothered or concerned enough to be of any worthwhile good to themselves or their community. Case No. 4 is one of a group which may border on any one of the previous groups but definitely is a category distinct. That is the person who will say, when he is approached concerning the possibility of his supporting Mattachine, "I can't afford to support your group, not that I can't afford to financially, mind you, but I could not afford to risk the chance that someone would find out that I did." That is to say that this type cannot afford to have the bank teller note the stamp on the back of his cancelled check that says, "Deposit to the account of the Mattachine Society, Inc." As if the bank teller were interested in the first place, and in the second place, had the time to study the back of every check he sees. Or this person cannot afford to have his fingerprint found on the twenty dollar bill that is deposited. In particular this group just plainly makes me sick at my stomach. In the first place they are most usually the ones who could afford to help the most financially, and if all things were to be taken into consideration they have the 15