ONE'S Annual Midwinter Institute Impressive

The tremendous amount of work which is being done by the homophile group in Los Angeles was amply evidenced at the annual Midwinter Institute held by ONE, Inc., January 26-27 in Los Angeles.

More than 100 persons attended the various sessions of the Institute, many of them from out of the Los Angeles area – and some from out of the state.

Theme of this year's meeting was "The Homosexual Answers His Critics" and he did a good job of it.

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THE LAW AND THE HOMOSEXUAL

There are at least a dozen arrests per year of Lesbians in the L.A. area, but no record of any appeals to higher courts as a results of these arrests, J.B. Tietz, treasurer of the Southern California division of the American Civil Liberties Union, pointed out. The fact that no appeals have been recorded, Mr. Tietz stated, indicates that Lesbians usually plead guilty, or do not appeal to higher courts when found guilty.

In a brief survey of the law covering homosexuality, the speaker stated that the word homosexual is not mentioned in any legal oode. Statutes instead are directed against specific acts, most of which deal with males but which are generally felt to apply equally to females. These so-called illegal acts are equally as illegal when committed by heterosexuals as by homosexuals.

THE U.S. HAS AN ANTI-HOMOSEXUAL CULTURE

A blueprint of two methods for combatting the anti-homosexual culture which he believes to be prevalent in the United States was offered in a paper prepared for ONE Institute by Dr. Albert Ellis, New York psychologist.

Dr. Ellis listed the two ways as the Palliative Method and the Curative Method. He believes the first to be the most practical; the second the most sure in results. The following is an outline of these two methods:

Social-sexual conditions will continue as they are today. Homosexuals will continue to exist.

A.

The Palliative Method

1.

2.

3.

Heterosexuals will continue to penalize homosexuals.

3