ment today and a listing of their accomplishments is difficult in that it is virtually impossible to view them realistically from afar, and certainly improbable that any brief discussion of them would satisfy those concerned.

Mattachine Society, Inc., dates from "foundation days" in Los Angeles in 1950. (April 1st has been chosen as the official "birthday") After an almost wildfire interest in early "guild" discussion groups in the Los Angeles area in 19511952, concern spread to Berkeley and San Francisco at the beginning of 1953, and pressure mounted to change the semisecret foundation setup to a democratic organization with full membership participation. This was achieved with a new charter dated in March 1954, and coninuted until early 1961. During the period, Mattachine REVIEW was founded (January 1955); Area Councils were established (and in some cases disbanded) in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Washington, and Boston. Philadelphia, Cleveland and Seattle groups had almost come into being. National headquarters was moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 1957. For a while all went well, but internal conflict, mainly between New York and San Francisco, led to a dissolution of the Area Council setup in the spring of 1961 after a business meeting at San Francisco in the fall of 1960 which surpassed all such sessions for a breakdown in unity. Results were not as disastrous as might have been expected. Independent units (some using the name Mattachine over the objections of others) were established but, more importantly, the work of the movement was continued, with determination and dignity and responsibility. Viewed today, this diaspora (as ONE called it at the time) or proliferation of independent organizations seems to have effected a renewed enthusiasm and surge of effort on the part of local leaders. More has been accom plished than before because the old central organization had been financially unable to assist or administer the area councils and their members. To their credit, each of the leading groups in New York and San Francisco has extended a helping hand to aid the organization of other independent groups--such as the Janus Society in Philadelphia (which now has a Central Pennsylvania branch at Harrisburg), the revived Washington, D.C., Mattachine in the East, and the new mattachine REVIEW

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affiliated Mattachine of Los Angeles.

Limiting its area of concern to Orange, County, Calif., the Dionysus organization was founded in that area three years ago and has worked closely with other organizations in Southern California, particularly Mattachine. It publishes a newsletter, holds public lectures and conferences, and performs a variety of useful social services for individuals and the communities of Laguna Beach, Santa Ana and other cities in its populous county on the east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Oddly enough, the population served by this "county-wide" organization is far greater than the number of people in many states! One new city in that county, for instance, today has more than 100,000 persons where ten years ago the land was mostly orange groves.

In addition to One and Mattachine in Southern California, a small group first called the Hollywood Assistance League was formed about four years ago. Today, under the name of National League for Social Understanding, it strives to accomplish important objectives in the field of homosexual problems, juvenile delinquency, and so on. It issues a newsletter frequently, holds group discussions, and seeks to realize the same general aims of other groups.

Already discussed in several references, One, Inc., continues as the only organization in Southern California with a full time staff and facilities. Founded in 1952, One magazine has appeared since January 1953 and today can lay claim to being the largest in circulation and the slickest as well. Its fiction has been called everything from a disgrace to perfect, its poetry and art have at times been daring and far out, but it has nevertheless maintained a lively pace editorially and drawn an equally lively response from its readers. Not everyone in other organizations agrees with ONE's views on such questions as the venereal disease problem, for instance, but nevertheless they read it, and for the most part try to evaluate it objectively. At the present time, ONE also issues a printed "Confi" newsletter for its "friends of One," those who subscribe and support the or ganization. Its quarterly, "Homophile Studies" has been even more far out (and pedantic as well) than the monthly, but this has gone relatively unnoticed since it seems to circulate mostly among super-sophisticated readers. | 15