chine seems to be one of its most strongly stated policies, although there has been complete friendliness among leaders of the two organizations.
Mattachine, DOB and SIR do not complete the San Francisco scene, though. Operating quietly in the sphere of concerns surrounding their specific interests' is the Tavern Guild of San Francisco, now chartered, and made up of owners, managers, bartenders and staff personnel of more than 20 of the city's so-called gay bars. This organization primarily intends to build a better business ethic, to solve mutual problems faced by bars where homosexuals are alleged to assemble (which assembly draws attention if not the wrath of some police and ABC agents), to strive to pre-vent capricious license revocation and suspension, and to work for a better attitude towards the gay bars which are found in every big city. Still in somewhat formative stages, the organization seems to have worked quietly and responsibly, and its aims seem to have been accepted by related interests, such as breweries and suppliers, and some other businesses in or near the "gay bar orbit." Time will tell the Tavern Guild's success. At least it has accomplished a friendly atmosphere for its meetings which has replaced a competitive attitude which developed right after it was founded a little over two years ago. The organization, however, has no direct affiliation with any of the other groups in the movement proper.
Completing the picture in the West is the newest of the officially constituted organizations, the Association for Social Knowledge in Vancouver, B.C. Only a few months old, it has already issued a remarkable newsletter, and has what seems to be a small but dedicated membership. As a gesture of support, its members subscribe individually to Mattachine REVIEW, but it is in no way connnected with Mattachine. ASK marks the first international development on the homophile movement scene in North America.
But close on the heels of ASK comes news of still another Canadian organization--the Committee for Homophile Reform of Ontario. While its address is Stittsville, it is located for all practical purposes at Ottawa, Canada's national capital. This group, like ASK, is still too new to evaluate.
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Chicago's Mattachine chapter lapsed some time ago, and mattachine REVIEW
an effort to create a "Society for Social Equality" about a year ago died aborning when its principal advocate moved to anoter city. The DOB chapter there is the present extent of the organized homophile movement in Chicago.
In the East, Boston's Mattachine chapter became the Demophile Center and continues its operation under the same leadership of Prescott Townsend. Public relations and education projects are conducted and a periodic news letter is issued.
Some mention of the Janus Society has already been made. Under the leadership of Charles Philips, this organization maintains the closest communication of any of the East Coast organizations with Mattachine, and its pace towards progress is an impressive one. Its newsletter has now bee come the Janus Magazine, it offers a book service to readers, it has established a branch or affiliate in the state capital of Harrisburg, and it has conducted an impressive pub lic relations program which has resulted in significant newspaper and magazine attention. A milestone of sorts occurred in December 1962 when the Greater Philadelphia Magazine printed a lengthy and fair study of homosexuality in Philadelphia, "The Furtive Fraternity." Janus aided in research for this. Some of the Janus speakers, such as Dr. Franklin Kameny of the Washington Mattachine, were given newspaper space with startling acknowledgement that the homosexual was a determined and interested minority in the civil rights battle. Close liaison is maintained between Janus and the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia.
Aside from the DOB chapter in New York (which group now edits the Ladder and hosted the 1964 DOB convention), only one other organization of note has made an impact on the scene other than the two Mattachine organizations in Washington and New York.
Randolfe Wicker (he admits it is a pseudonym) created the Homosexual League of New York some three years ago and splashed into print as well as on the air with a broad cast of eight male homosexuals stating their views and con cerns in an hour-long program originated over WBAI (Pa cifica Foundation station in New York). Immediate news of this was carried in New York Times and Newsweek as well 21