The

and the homosexuals themselves cannot agree on the causes of homosexuality and whether it can be cured.

Fear of Women

psychiatrists, psycholooffenders against nature. In the gists, sexologists, sociologists, lexicon of polite prejudice it may not be desirable to be a Jew or a Negro, but it is not unnatural of the Jew to be a Jew and the Negro to be a Negro. It is unnatural for a man or women to One theory held to by a large be a homosexual, and this is number of psychologists and one prejudice in which even othsupported in Dr. Irving Bieber's er minority groups can share. recent book, "Homosexuality; (In fact, on this point the hu Psychoanalytic Study," is that homosexuality is not natural, that everyone is basically het erosexual, and that homosexuals have an unconscious fear of het erosexual

man comedy becomes downright ludicrous. While Jewish and Negro heterosexuals look down on homosexuals, many white Protestant homosexuals look down relations and have on Jews and Negroes. As one turned to men to escape from homosexual put it on "Live and the anxieties which, for them, Let Live," WBAI's recent prowould be involved in relations gram on homosexuality, there women. Many therapists are "as many Babbitt homosexwho subscribe to this analysis uals as heterosexuals.") not only claim that cures are possible, but cite cases in which they have been effected.

An opposite view, held by many homosexuals, is that homosexuals are not unnatural but merely different, and that the problem is not to erase the difference but for them and society to come to terms with it. A recent issue of the newsletter of the predominantly homosexual Mattachine Society of New York summed up this approach in reporting on a lecture by a psychotherapist: "The homosexual is not so much ill, immature, or stunted as deviated, deflected, divergent...."

Sick or Different Those homosexuals who take the "not sick but different" line regard themselves as a minority group. But even this second class status is denied them by society, in whose eyes they are

Since homosexuals are not a "respectable" minority group, they do not rise up in righteous indignation and form an AntiDefamation League or a National Association for the Advancement of Homosexuals. It is a sign of civil-libertarian prestige for a prominent citizen to have his name on the ADL or NAACP letterhead. However, if Randolphe Wicker, public relations

director

of the Homosexual

League of New York, were to put his real name on the League's letterhead, he would probably be fired from the advertising agency for which he works from 9 to 5.

Many Lives

In fact, the homosexual is forced to lead as many lives as former Communist Herbert Philbrick. If he wants to keep his job, preserve his marriage, mix in heterosexual circles, he can-

mattachine REVIEW

not be himself. In some cases

he must become a caricature of maleness. The irony is that one reason homosexuals are able to "pass" so easily (even into the Army, where they deceive doctors and psychiatrists) is that, out of bed, they are so much like other men.

are

Only about fifteen per cent of the homosexuals in this country "campy," estimates the president of the Mattachine Society of New York. These, the types who inhabit Cherry Grove on Fire Island, "have no interest in waging any struggle," says one gay Villager. "They can get anything they want." Many of them are in the arts or other permissive professions where they do not suffer financially for the direction of their 'sex lives. "I think they would be happy to vote for McCarthy," the Villager continued. "As long as it doesn't touch on their problems, they'll vote to put the Communists in jail." These are the real hedonists of the "gay" world:

Normal Behavior

What might come as a shock to the average heterosexual, were he ever to sit down and consciously talk to an average homosexual, is that the invert radiates, not an effluvium 'of evil, but an aura of inescapable loneliness. He is alone during his 9-to-5 masquerade. He is alone in the public places of the "straight" community. Since most homosexual relationships are short-lived, he does not know the security of an enduring relationship like heterosexual marriage.

Because of this lonelmess and the strain of constant pretense, homosexuals become gay almost to the point of hilarity when they are among their own, at parties or in bars. It is a kind of hys. terical relief. The hilarity in gay bars is due to the openness," the Village informant explains.

The Bar Scene "Mostly these people come to meet friends and friends' friends, to see who among their vast circle can be found in the familiar hangout that evening, to renew acquaintanceships and to cement friendships. They come to let down their hair to participate in the atmosphere without fear that they are attracting the attention of a hos tile society. They come to lay aside their masks, as many can. not do in their own homes, and to take relief as they are laid aside." So says Donald Webster Cory, himself a homosexual, in his book "The Homosexual in America."

The homosexual's ease of concealment produces a paradoxical effect. Because he is diffi cult to detect, he may have less trouble getting a job, gaining adniission to exclusive establish ments, etc., than the Jew or the Negro. Once admitted, however, the Jew or the Negro can be more confident of staying. The homosexual is constantly in danger of being found out. He is subject to at most blackmail, and at least a bad case of paranoia,

Problem of Passing Moreover, because he can "pass," the homosexual thinks of himself as less persecuted than