One Institute Mental Health and Homosexuality

BY STEN RUSSELL

THE 1959 MIDWINTER INSTITUTE SPONSORED BY ONE, INC. WAS HELD IN LOS ANGELES JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 1. THEME FOR DISCUSSION WAS

"MENTAL HEALTH AND HOMOSEXUALITY."

HOMOPHILE MOVEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY

DEL MARTIN, PRESIDENT OF THE DAUGHTERS OF BILITIS, SAN FRANCISCO, GAVE A RESUME OF THE FURFOSE OF THE LADDER AND ITS CONTENTS DURING THE LAST YEAR. SHE MENTIONED SOME OF THE PROJECTS WHICH THE DAUGHTERS HAD SPONSORED, INCLUDING SOCIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOG|— CAL QUESTIONNAIRES CIRCULATED AMONG LESBIANS.

REGARDING PROGRESS IN THE FIELD, SHE REFERRED TO DR. KARL BOWMAN'S SPEECH ON HOMOSEXUALITY BEFORE THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB IN SAN FRANCISCO. WHILE THE "SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER" BURIED THE SPEECH, IT MADE HEADLINES AND A BIG WRITE-UP IN "THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE". THE REPORTER SEEMED MOST IMPRESSED BY ONE OF BOWMAN'S POINTS THAT THE HOMOSEXUAL SOCIAL PROBLEM MIGHT NEVER BE SOLVED DUE TO THE FEAR AND LATENT HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE REST OF THE POPULATION. SHE REFERRED ALSO TO A PRECEDENT-BREAKING TWO-HOUR DISCUSSION OF HOMOSEXUALITY GIVEN OVER RADIO STATION KPFA LAST YEAR, WHICH WAS ENTITLED "THE HOMOSEXUAL IN OUR SOCIETY" AND WHICH FEATURED OUTSTANDING CITIZENS OF THE BAY AREA.

ONE OF THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLES OF PROGRESS FOR THE HOMOPHILE WAS EVIDENCED IN THE SUCCESSFUL LEGAL BATTLE TO KEEP GAY BARS FROM BEING CLOSED DOWN, OR ANY BARS, SIMPLY BECAUSE SOME OR MOST OF THEIR CLIENTELE HAPPENED TO BE HOMOSEXUALS. MISS MARTIN WAS PARTICULARLY PLEASED, NOT ONLY BECAUSE THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF HOMOSEXUALS HAD BEEN UPHELD BUT BECAUSE THE HOMOPHILES THEMSELVES, BY THEIR CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIVITIES AS REPORTED IN THE LADDER, HAD BEEN OF SOME HELP IN THE CASE. MORRIS LOWENTHAL, SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY, HAD CONTACTED MISS MARTIN FOR COPIES OF THE LADDER IN