other minorities and consequent-

ly he is less apt to organize to improve his lot.

"We don't get the harassment dished out to the Puerto Ricans and other minorities," one of the participants on "Live and Let Live" noted.

"Most homosexuals have no

interest in being considered separate but equal-they're already accepted," asserts the Villager. "They think they have it made."

"We're members of this com-

munity; why should we fight against it?" asks the president of the local Mattachine.

But the fact is that they are not accepted as homosexuals; they are accepted only insofar as they conceal their homosexuality. The fact is, too, that with the exception of the Communist Party and the Negroes in the South, they are the only minority group that is legally restricted. They are, in Cory's phrase, "law-abiding felons." And while other minorities militantly organize to assert their civil liberties, most homosexuals ask only that no one rock the boat.

They will put up with the fact that, except in the state of Illinois, all homosexual relations, even those conducted in private between two consenting adults, are illegal; that, except in the state of California, homosexual bars can be closed on the flimsiest excuse; that homosexuals are barred from serving in the Armed Forces and that those who slip in are subject to “un-

desirable discharge," regardless of their service records; that homosexuals are secure in their jobs, whether in government or most of private industry, only so long as they pretend they are not homosexuals.

The problem of society's attitude toward homosexuality is part of the larger problem of its attitude toward sex in general. "American society is not merely anti-homosexual,” anti-homosexual," one homosex-

ual noted, "it is anti-sex." Heterosexual relations, too, are il legal if the participants are not married. The difference is that heterosexuals are the majority. Socially, the majority is more sympathetic toward "vices" with which it is familiar. Legally, there is less likelihood of discriminatory enforcement of sex laws when the majority is involved.

The possibility of changing society's approach to homosexuality is caught up in a vicious cycle. There are no reliable statistics on the number of homo-

sexuals in the United States.

sexuals in

Conservative guesses, however, place the number of practicing adult males at two or three million. If it could be proved that there were so many, and if the public were made to accept the statistic, it would be forced to bring its attitude and its laws into line with reality. But until a change in the attitude of the public makes it safe, homosexuals will not stand up and be. counted.

mattachine REVIEW

THE

ALBANY TRUST

THE DIFFICULTY OF ACHIEVING LEGAL REFORM which will permit private sex expression between consenting adults is not unique to the Unit+ ed States. Resistance to such reform is just as strong in England and other English-speaking countries, and in some other parts of the world as well.

Denmark, which liberalized its sex laws about three decades ago, is! presently the scene of a reaction to tighten them, particularly against homosexuals. Under the Nazis, Germany became officially anti-homosexual, and still is-influenced by allied occupation forces in the West, and by the Soviet in the East; Canada, Australia and New Zealand all follow the prevalent British concept that private sex behavior is still a matter to be legislated.

Of all the countries where homosexual behavior is prohibited by law, England is perhaps unique in that for the past five years or so there has been more attention drawn to reform than anywhere else.

As has been reported many times, a committee of Parliament, headed by Sir John Wolfenden, recommended in 1957 that laws against private and consenting homosexual acts between persons 21 or over should be repealed. A sizeable vote favoring this was obtained once in Commons, but it was a result of efforts that were too weak to achieve success at the time, and almost half the legislators dodged the responsibility of declaring themselves, probably for political reasons. Thus the vote, 213 against to 99 for, fizzled.

Largely responsible for getting the matter debated and voted upon is a group in London, The Albany Trust, which seems also to sponsor another organization, The Homosexual Law Reform Society, both located at 32 Shaftsbury Ave., W-1.

These organizations list some of the most prominent men of letters, politics and science in Great Britain as endorsing the effort. Many prominent religious leaders not only endorse but actively conduct the public relations and educational campaign to keep the problem alive in the British press and in Government also.

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