ter people to responsible citizens of the community at large. (The heterosexual members have been helped by their growth of understanding of a problem which formerly they had not known to exist as well as helping other members to accept and und erstand the heterosexual point of view.)

RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTED

Patty Patterson presented the DOB Research Committee's paper, "Somo Comparisons Between the Lesbiau and the Male Homosexual", drawn from questionnaires circulated throughout the country. Florence Conrad must be complimented for much of the work done on this research project as well as all those who helped and cooperated in the venture. Miss Patterson prosented the paper very well, bringing out findings of special interest to the audience in her vigorous, straight-forward manner. The complete survey and its findings will be presented in full in THE LADDER at a future date.

WHY THE LESBIAN?

During the morning session we heard the star-studded panel discuss the question, "Why the Lesbian?" With Mrs. Bernice Englo of the Langley Porter Clinic moderating, the panelists were: Dr. Frank A. Beach, psychology pro fessor from the University of California at Berkeley and co-author of the book, "Patterns of Sexual Behavior"; Patricia Lyon, ethnologist and archaeologist, University of alifornia at Santa Barbara; Dr. Norman Reider, former head of the Psychiatric Clinic at Mt. Zion Hospital, San Francisco; and Dr. Leo J. Zeff, Berkeley clinical psychologist.

Miss Lyon led off with the observation that she's always been amazed at the scarcity of material on Lesbianism in non-Western cultures. Whether it existed or not was easily obscured by the function of women in primitive cultures, she pointed out. Whereas, in present-day Western society, equal opportunity of education and wage earning ability had given women a freedom of choice rarely found before. Miss Lyon felt that while the phenomen on of Lesbianism had prob-

8