Page 2

The Body Politic

editorials

gay pride

Gay Pride Week is an opportunity to "wave the flag." As a minority, there is no more reason for us to amalgamate into a sexual norrn, than for any group to deny its heritage. By publically demonstrating pride in our sexuality we assert our right to live that life- style we choose, not as a grant of liberal largesse, but as a matter of course.

changes

Almost two years of putting out a paper on a col- lective basis has clarified to us some of the weaknes- ses inherent in that system. After the initial enthus- iasm which prompted equal collective involvement had died, the great burden of the work was carried by those motivated by a more persistent conviction or by guilt. The collective still functioned in terms of approving or rejecting articles; however, much time was wasted in considering articles which a discerning critical eye would have dismissed iramediately .

This is scarcely a novel development. Host small papers, gay or otherwise, inevitably approach this same state of collective inertia, particularly when energies are drained by the necessity of maintaining some form of lucrative employment.

The Body Politic itself was suffering. Conceived as a bi-monthly, it was slowly approaching the status of a quarterly; and though lay-out was certainly im- proving dramatically, content was uneven and frequently neither imaginative nor innovative.

In order, therefore, to remedy this unfortunate situation, it was decided to re-structure the collec- tive. An editorial board was named, consisting of the two fonner co-ordinators, Jearld Holdenhauer and Gerald Hannon, with the addition of Edward Jackson, a collec- tive member whose almost daily involvement in the paper made the appointment inevitable. The board's duties are Co consist of:

1) performing the day to day tasks which any operation requires.

2) reading all submissions to the paper. Those which in the opinion of the board are obviously unsuitable will be rejected without having been brought to the attention of the collective. The collective will be asked to vote upon submissions which the board feels are of a controversial or questionable nature. A board member has only one vote.

3) acquiring subscriptions {Jearld Holdenhauer), ob- taining advertising (Gerald Hannon) and expediting dis- tribution (Edward Jackson).

The collective represents a pool of resource people whose talents can be solicited by the editorial board whenever necessary. It will also vote on all important matters which affect the direction and future of the paper.

We feel that these changes will ensure a maximum of efficiency without compromising the democratic as- pects of the collective approach. We also hope that the product will finally justify the process.

It is also time we feel to discuss the male orient- ation of our journal. We are undoubtedly a predominant- ly gay male paper because most of the people who con- tribute to and work on it are gay males. Anyone who has read the paper throughout its brief history will be aware of this fact. Contributions from women are not many, partly because of the male aura, and partly be- cause activist lesbians have oijiented themselves around the women's movement, antf adopted a separatist outlook for the present. We continue to welcome contributions from gay women but we cannot presume to speak for them. Under such conditions anything we do will smack of tok- enism. Although we regret the consequent loss of rich- ness and variety to the paper, it cannot be otherwise.

newtf address

The Body Politic, along with the associated Gay Liber ation bookstore. Glad Day books, is moving. The more spacious offices are now located at 139 Seaton St., Toronto, Ontario, H5A 2T2.

this issue

contents

Letters Pages 3,^

News , Toronto Star continues ban... Unit- arians establish gay of flee. . .Van- couver bar raided. . .Ontario teach- ers threatened Pages 5-7

Montreal Gay Spots Page 8

Books

Lesbian Nation... The Lord is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay... Academics on Sex Pages 9-11

Feature Article: The Gay Movement in

Germany - Part One: 1860-1910 Pages 12-16

A Hore Aggressive Stance

Gays & Government in Manitoba Page 17

Gay Rock Pages 18-19

Survey: Gay Fantasies .Page 21

Community Page Page 23

Front Cover: See Page 16. Back Cover: Drawing from a bas relief on a building on Victoria St., Toronto.

EDITORIAL COlLECnVE ©

THE BODY^POLITIC is an independent journal of Gay Liberation published six times yearly.

The collective opinions of the newspaper are expressed only in the editorials.

Offices are located at: 139 Seaton Street Phone: 364-6731 Toronto M5A 2T2

EDITORIAL BOARD: Jearld Moldenhauer Gerald Hannon Edv/ard Jackson

COLLECTIVE MEMBERS FOR THIS ISSUE: Don Bell, Linda Koch, Paul Hacdonald, Ken Popert, John Scythes, Herb Spiers, Darryl Tonkin, Merv Walker

CONTRIBUTORS FOR THIS ISSUE: Greg Lehne, Jim Steakley, Robert Trow, Bob Wallace, Tony Wilson, C. Todd Duncan, Greg Bourgeois, Tom Warner, John Shafer, Warren Hague, Elgin Blair, Anon, Montreal

Gay Line

9^ liberation newtpopcr

the growth of

GAY CONSCIOUSNESS

139 Seaton Sf. Toronto, Onf. MSA 2T2 CANADA $2/6 issues ($2.25USA)

Back Issues 1-8 $3.00 Single Back Issues 40c

It* >o^y Polltli

letters

the other side

De«t Body Politic:

I Jtj«t aaw your aprlng Issue In which Wlnacon Le>land sctackA ■y cole Id the split In the Ca^^

I editorial collective last clarify the ■sue a bit. and hopefully, pre- ■nt any alacepresentatton of our

fall. I ]uBt

>ltlon, Wlnatoo'a lett

attenpt to convince the collective to «ake sooe changes in our oper- nclDg procedure, principally In the area of editorial decisions. Several collective members 6 my- self had begun to feel chat Win- ston was making too many decisions unilaterally about the inclusion and editing of material and ad- vertising, and our sole Intencions were to make our procedures more deaocratic by a clear declaration chat final authority for such de- cisions lay vlth the editorial collective. Ue also wished to clarify who should have voting nembershlp in the ciillectivf In terms of aet work requirements, as there had been some dlffl ties before with Winston rather arbitrarily deciding who should be consulted on important de-

:lsloi

I brought these Ideas (on

■ting.

ard

although jll of those attending found my proposals fair and reas- onable, Ulnscon refused even to discuss them. He considered any atceapts to change the operation of the paper as a "personal attack" on his "integrity". (Ulnston un- consciously reveals this tendancy toward authoritarianism In his letter when he refers to our pro- posals for greater collective dcB- ocracy as an "Internal coup d'etat" His use of that particular phrase Hays a lot about how he perceives the paper and his role In It ). Shortly after this meeting, I Informed me and several

othei

ported my position that we would no longer be welcome to puitlci- pate In putting out the paper. We made several attempts to reason with Winston, Including an attempt to set up mediation with Morris Klght. but Winston chose to per- sist in his obstinacy.

The Ealslty of Winston's ver- sion - thai a lot of needless trouble was stirred up by "one or two" people trying to "Impose" their views on the paper - can b« easily demonstrated. If you look on page 2 of Issue »15, the issue Immediately preceedlng the split, you will find seven people listed as collective members in a little box which Winston himself typeset. Of these seven people, four - Hitch Chanells. Alejandro Stuart, Peter Goodman and myself - sup- ported the proposals for change and formed a Strike Committee to publicise our predicament and pressure Winston towards a more conciliatory attitude. As (or the five "core staff people" whom Ulnston alleges to have "outvoted" me, most of them were not listed fcy Winston hlKself as collective Members in Issue il5) And none of them were present at th* meet- ing where my proposals were dis- cussed. In fact, none of these people to Dj kAOWleJgc ever atten- ded collective meetings, or consi- dered thvaaelves collective me*- bers; and one - U« Atwell - has lived in Los Angeles for the past two yearsi The only people with any real right to call themaelvca core" psople vere Ulnaton and my- selT, since we did the lion's share of the work. The only Ju«t- Utcatton for calling ihuc pcopU "core eiatt people" ts that Min- • tOB could casvlnce tb^ to allow th»lr MSM to he u«*d In support of his poalttom.

people" had some right to be con- sulted In the matter, Winston refused to permit a meeting where everyone could be present and the merits of the case argued openly aod a vote taken. Instead

and started to assemble his pri- vate "staff".

1 hope this Is some clarifi- cation of the matter. Winston's griping unfairly impugns both The Body Politic and the ver- acity of your sources, so perhaps this letter will serve to dissip- ate some of that onus,

Zack Hamsfleld

the fear

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Most of what Gerald llannon has written in The flody Politic on the sexuality of children not only makes sense, but needed to be said, and needs to be repeat- ed. Unfortunately, the first par- agraph of his "Giildren and Sex"

(Iss

: lb) I

:hrentened, we

;Hity and alai :he response o1 newspapers I

3) '

classical rhich to me is of I scholastic In- st 1) "when cer- posaessions are eact with hostil- 3) certainly "hos- ." character I xed

len and Little

:h they took as a threat le well-being of children; hildren, we can therefore conclude, are Indeed possessions." Q.E.D, But no. Something went wrong. For, granting the first and second premises, the "con- clusion" does not follow — be- cause In our present hysterogenic society we react with "hoatlllcy and aUrm" to all sorts of things other than threats to our "poes- essions".

Now I too have come to be- lieve that most parents In North America often regard their chil- dren as posseaslons, but the cor- rectness of this belli-t was not proven by recent events In Tor- onto, nor does the possess Iveness of a "materialist society" more than begin to explain the "lud- icrous pitch" to uhlch reaction

thei

.sed. Su(

parents needing to feel they "own" their children's bodies and love, feel "robbed" when these seem to have been temporarily transferred to other adults. Since such par- ents cannot admit their children could freely give of themselves to others (as this would mean they were self-poBsesaed -i.e., adults - vl:. "child molesters"). Sure, our society Is "eisterlalist", but at the same tine it is sex- negative and. speclflcallv. hn- mophobic. (Naturally these qual- ities are interrelated - monopoly capitalism, for example, thrives

the relations are complex and re- quire careful spelling out. Kot here.)

(By the way, our very use of words like "give" and "receive" to describe the '

>fte>

> of t

otic

lergy ■

: that

'• alalf

as In "You never give ■ fectlon anymore" - is probably a sign of false materialism. Obvi- ously, we are government inspected meat, but when two or nore hunks are lucky enough to make a con- speak, preferably in the present tense, of "turning on to one an- other" and "doing this and that with one another" than of some measurable transfer of goods and servicer, as if one were the El- ectric Company and the other a paying custoaer.)

ScK-negaclve. unhappy people are bound to be disappotntcd when their children (and so^ adults) turn out not only to have positive attitude* toward aes but also to b« reasonably happy when actlml

Parente who were rcpreased aa children and have not yet worked throuKh that repression, often resent it when their children seem to be easily enjoying what they at the same age were deprived of, continued later to deprive themselves of, and perhaps even nov can enjoy only to the accomp- animent of guilt. But since such people, very likely, have also been brought up to believe that good modem parents desire above all that their children be happy, they must believe (If only to avoid resenting their children and consequently feeling guilty in yet another way) that no child of theirs could be sexually happy ("Not at his age!"), indeed that child sexuality does not exist, and that any genuinely sexual en- joyment in relations with children Is obtained only by the perverse, initiating adult.

Okay, BO out society is sex- negative and homophobic and each family Bore or less reproduces these attitudes, but even this only begins to explain the hys- teria in question. We must ask: How ace these attitudes so tightly llnlced in people's minds that one cannot advocate the repeal either of laws prohibiting homosexual acts between consenting adults (as at the 1972 Democratic Conven- tion) or of age-of-consent laws in general (as in "Of Hen and Little Boys") without stirring up widespread alarm and hostility centering around paranoid fears of hootosexual Child Holestatlon, Brutal Rape (resulting In Perma- nent Damage) even White Slavery - what J. Edgar Hoover used to sun up SB "heinous crimes against children" (though often all he mesne was "sex")! What ore par- ents really afraid ofT After all the majority of reported rapes sre of adult women, and 9SZ of sexual "crimes of violence" are purely heterosexual. And It Isn't necessary to have seen statistics from the Institute for Sex Research to know this: It is evi- dent even on the pages of Che dally newspapers, despite the ex- aggerations, steaming from their own homophobic and sex-negative attitudes, of policemen and yel- low Journalists, Horcover, isn't it curious chat homosexual men. popularly visualised as "weak" and "effeminate", are feared by the sane populace as "brutal rapists"? (Finally, as Klnsey discovered: "as t.ir as so-called molestation of children was con- cerned, a great deal more damage was done to the child by adult

iria ").

repeat: Wliy this myth of homosexual child rape? What are parents really afraid of (other than losing their "posses- sions")? Let ne close by suggest- ing a few things, all of which, I think - since most psychological events are over-determined (Freud) are probably correct. (Please recall when reading these chat "hoDuiphobia" Is bQth fear of the Other, of the Stranger, and fear of tfle Same, of part of Oneself \

1) More or less dimly aware of the pervasiveness of homosexual feelings, even In themselves, par- ents simply fear that kids exposed to gay people and/or to homosexual experience, will become gay. (Com- pare Kinsey's theory of "touch re- sponse" which led him to conclude That "whether one built a hetero- suxual or a ho*oscxual pattern depended partially on th* satis- factory or unsatisfactory nature of one's first experience ").

2) As with any phobia, par- ents In the grip of homophobia t«Dd to fsntaslte all sorts of monstrous attributes of the un- known objects of their fear.

J) Particularly in our youth- oriented societies, aging parent* project their own rcpreased sex- ual interests In (not aeckssactly their own) children onto other, unkne-wn adult*. An-1 thf »«'»■

unluKWn - e.g. "homoaexunls" - the easlet. (soaetlmea such par- ents also project their spiteful desires to "conquer" youth ).

4) Parents, sspecially fa- thers project their ,pwn (ears of (and repressed desires for) sexual passivity (e.g. being raped) onto their male children,

3) Parents wlio are fearful they will grow old and die without having had much of a sexual Rood time, resent anything that might expose their children to such a thing.

All of these partial explan- ations seem to me quite likely at the present time. The complex "Ansver" will no doubt encompass everything Gerald Hannon and I have suggested, and much more. But at least we are beginning to make sense out of the conventional deadly madness, t hope it is not

Burt

1 Weiss

-farts of the movement-

Dear Body Politic: I would like I the letter from Ron Dayman (Frat specifically the point at the end of his letter where he crltlcite; you for your map of Toronto Cay

As I recall, your map detail- ed all places (not Just the Ghetto) In Toronto where hooioscxuals could meet each other. This map Inc ed Gay Lib places - eg: Body irriiA. CHAT,

Let's

face It, In [

" Cay Lib easy to meet other gay p However, being realistic percentage of gay people conception of "the destr

clal (

Mlly

, a large

system. Some people In a "Cay Liberation?" conception of society where nen and women are equal and where sexism, and the nuclear family, hove been ellal-

ited.

One

allBt

when you have a pe (a lover). Condemning the Ghetto Is fine when you nix freely, re- late and coDBunlcate with people In Cay Lib circles; also, when you have a lover and you don't need to meet people for sex, you don't need the Chettol

If the Cay Lib revolution Is to succeed then It could prob- ably use the help of the 901 of the gay population that so far sees you as a bunch of condescend- ing university kids, who, for the lere fact you can Intellectually rationalize being gay, feel su- periority to what you refer to as Ghetto, Bar, Bath, Club Queens. Ideallstlcally we shouldn't need the Ghetto, but when you are homy and lonely on Saturday olght thei places can be awfully tempting. Some of us, in fact a lot of us, don't have the same avoidance as

Lead Die to the Promised Land, a land where I can mix freely with straights and gays, a land where 1 can sexually relate to anyone. male, female, fat, thin, old, young, and where I don't look for nice boys, big cocks and round asses. Lite In the Promised Land sounds ideallstlcally nice but realistically boring,

Arthur MiitaJter

The Body PolUlt

lette rs

testimony defended

'lur.ber of Popert 's

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

Yoor accusation of American chauvinism Is well-taken, and I am Indeed sorry chat the book did not contain a good number of ar- ticles froto my Canadian sisters and brothers. 1 would like, how- ever, to explain Chat part of Che reason was that the book was pub- lished by a snail counter-culture publishing house, and although they own che rights to Che Canad- ian markec. I was much surprised (as well as pleased) co discover that che book had wended its way to Canada. I would also like Co objecC to Popert's word-picking In his discussion of my foreword, 1 said "gay people" and "gay move- ment" and not "american gay people" etc. because as Foperc himself pointed out, some of Che articles were written by Cubans (in addi- tion CO Che face that I do not know the naclonallcies of many of the contributors and it would have been more chauvinistic of me Co assume Chat they were ainer- Icans). Another wrong assumption was that part of my (and Allen Young's) chauvinism was not read- ing Body Politic. He are both subscribers, and 1 do adore your magazine, so perhaps you should check your subscription list be- fore making such accusations)

Nevercheless, Che main pur- pose of my leccer is to respond CO Poperc's put-down of most of Che articles in the book as de- pressing Cesdmony, political poetry, and transcribed dialogue. In the first place, not all the testimony was depressing. JusC for example, my own article PORTRAIT OF THE LESBIAN AS A YOUNG DYKE was meant to be funny and vlccorlous. 1 would further like CO point out that a put- down of CCGIlnony per se Is a white male view of the world (and 1 should add hecerosexual) . Woraen and gay people up until the last few years have been deprived of the true knowledge about them- selves because everything that was written about us was written by white, male heterosexuals. In order to discover what the truth is about ourselvee, we must re- turn to what has been left Co us: our eKperlences. Only by sharing our testimony and experiences will we be able to Identify with each other's oppression and ascertain

: Che

- of I

expei

Is To start a pi^ari with philo- sophy and try Co make people flC InCo che philosophy is che way che oppressor has dealt with us, and 1 slncerelv believe that we have to find alternatives to chla oppreslve way of categorizing and comparcnentalUlng human belnKs. I believe chat political poetry

alogue

J othei

al-

^xpressing the gay

experle	""■	In struggle, Karla Jay
he r.-v	suir rt	plies: I am grate
	Jay for	taking the trouble
o rear	ond to my review.
Firs	t. some	matters of fact:
Only	two of	the Eifcy or so ar
IcUs	.n her book are bv Cuhans
and one	Is the	Cuban government's
enuncl	acton o	homosexuals.
.lay	Is Inde	ed a subscriber;
	uest to	subscribe arrived
a week	before	ler letter and som
tine af	Ccr my	review appeared.
As to Jay't	principal point.
	lat she	Is correct. I
coimlct	ed nn c	rror In dismissing
the Imp	ort.ince	of personal Cesd

sexual revolution limited?

Dear Body Politic:

1 was born twenty years Coo soon. Here I am ac middle age, married, financially secure, and "respectable", finding more and more clearly that I ambl-sexual, and interested In teen-agera at

A number of things come Inco focus as 1 accept this part of my- self. Ic explains the mood-swlngs and Che vague dlssaclsfactlon, the periodic sense of longing for un- known kinds of gratification, the special InteresC in adolescent boys chat 1 have felt for a number

What does a person In this situation do? It seems Chat even among homophlle groups this kind

and of course, there is always the legal threat hanging in Che back- ground. There is no forum, no meeting place, no means of recog- nition for persons with this sore of Inclinadon. Above all, it Is very difficult Co meet suitable

come to love. Some might say Chat ! would do beCCer to pick up young husclers In distant cities, but that does not correspond Co my Idea of a loving friendship.

Alcernaclvely. should I con- Cinue to suppress my longings, and go on living less than a full and satisfying life? No: since we can have only one life, it seems co me Chat we should Cry in respon- sible ways CO have as much pleas- ure as possible while we can.

1 wonder how many other men are caught In my position? And I wonder how many youths there are about who might enjoy and benefit from the love of an older person? This newspaper talks of a "sexual revolution". Can you do anything useful about this aspect of the "revolution"? Are you able to do anything to help the people directly involved?

■ely

Slnt Richard

westward oh!

The following lettef uas ui-it- ten by an AuBtralian Gay Libera- tioniet after a reaent visit to the Prairie pravincee , Dear Body Politic.

Having been Involved In che establlshoenC of gay liberation In Western Australia some two years ago, I looked forward Co meeting the people actively In- volved In the movement across Ca- nada. The trip was coo shore and 1 realize Chac what 1 say is a

This 1

al !

ubjei

-aluatit of

ivldlng I

• hope jcclve c

icisD

The movement in Calgary ap- peared to be going through a dif- ficult period. The Gay Information Centre was staffed by only a few people (one In particular) who continued to maintain the service even chough llctle asslscance could be obtained. Considering che populaclon size of Calgary, I was surprised not to find a well organized gay liberation movement. Perch (WesCern Austra- lia) has a population size sim- ilar Co ChaC of Calgary and a gay llberaclon organization with a membership of over 300. The mix- ing of the gay with the straight population at the hotels I visit- ed shows good Integration and ac- ceptance of each by the other.

Edmonton I was also disappoin- ted wich. One person seeoed Co be in control, either by design or clrcumscance. The lack of a dem-

person on an ego crip Is noc the sign of a progressive movement. This may be an unfair criticism, although 1 don'c Chink so. as I visited the home of the co-<irdln- ator and the one hour conversat- ion was basically a complete mon- ologue wlch hundreds of "I's" In- cerspersed ac intervals and no mention of other gay men or gay women being Involved.

1 arrived In Saskatoon on a lace Saturday afternoon - rang the telephone number at fifteen mlnuce Intervals from 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. - with no answer, I visited che premises of che organization between chese times as well, Co no avail. It would appear chac anyone vlslcing from out of town and arriving after business hours would have difficulty contacting someone from che organiiatlon.

Toronto I have visited before and love the place. The new CHAT

. The

atmosphere at one of che Friday night dances that I attended was very sociable and friendly. In fact, of all the dances and clubs chac I have been Co around the

world I have never seen a group of gay men and wotuen, both young and old, enjoying themselves and mixing so well.

The Body Politic I enjoy reading and consider it to be one of Che best gay liberation papers available. The paper has a diff- icult Cask as Ic Is Canada's only nacional gay paper. It Is the main coDOsunlcatlve link between all provinces and their organizations and should be supported.

In sunnary, it would appear that there is a lack of well or- ganized, democratic and energetic gay liberation organizations a- crosE the prairies. From what I have observed there Is a definite need and population to support it. Gays from the prairies must re- alize that life, liberty and equality could begin at home ra- ther Chan by Qkass migration Co th£ taftern or western clctes.

Brl^

Llndberg,

~kid who wanted books on queers'

Dear Body Politic:

I am In my second year of high school. 1 live at home. I an under 18 and I'n also gayt

Granted the radlcalizatlon of women and gays has broken down a number of sex and sexuallcy- relaced barriers and sCereo-cypes. It has also brought a certain po- litical awareness Co students. Many gay students are now less secretive about chelr sexuallcy. But we still have a long way to go. Sexism is sometimes insidious

) blal

always present.

It is present In che school library where Che only nencion of homosexuality Is In A Teenagers Guide to Responsible Attitudes to Sex and other books of this sort. Or in Che guidance offices, where we are "counselled back onco che right path" and Cold "don't worry It's Just a phase. It will go away." I know of a woaan who last year told the counsellor of her pregnancy and was hounded, phoned at home, and threatened by them until she told her parents ( and waa subsequently forced co leave school and was kicked ouc of the house). Host of che students are aware of this or similar in- cldencs and since we all know that In the eyes of authority figures (eg. parents teachers, etc.) hoBosexuall cy is a worse crlne than the pregnancy of a sixteen year old, will anyone with the smallest sense of self preserva- tion go to a guidance counselor and say "I wonder if I could talk CO you. You see I'm a homosexual.'

Anyone who doesn't fit Into scereocyped boy role or girl role is imiediately assumed to have Something Wrong Somewhere. And for the most part, Chat person Ins CO believe that there real- ly Is something wrong. Like M, whose true sexuallcy is known Co about 3 people in the school. He

pre5 out of his "ay to disassoci- ate himself from any suspicion of homosexuality, by ridiculing any students who don't fit into the steceocypes, by puccing on a "fairy ace" and by a chousand other llecle games of Che mosc vicious and soul deseroylng nacure imaginable.

And being In high school means chac mosc of us have Co live at home. Some parents may

more liberal Chan oChers, but Chey are all still capable of holding almost absolute power over

' comings and goings and who we come and go with. The very fact that the age for statutory rape

different from province to province shows how arbitrary and scrimlnatory the Idea of a egal age" for sexuality really ' is. Are we to believe that Che age of 21 for homosexual acts is any the less arbitrary or discri- minatory?

The clme is certainly ripe for bringing gay liberation struggles into Che high schools.

One Chlng I did Cry to do was get someone into the school to speak about the gay liberation group here. Of course, Che guid- ance department had to interview her first and make sure that she was flC for che kiddles Co hear, and wouldn't go running around aCtacklng everything female, or expose herself, or do anything else that "chese people" are al- ways doing. Because It was so close to the end of the year the whole thing was postponed Co nexc September and cben the subject will have to be "treated fairly" wlch the "other viewpoints" represented (eg; ministers of various religions, psychiatrists, vlce-aquad police, etc.) And from talking Co people from other schools, Chls guidance department Is one of the city's two or three mosC liberal!

As I menCloned before, the library shows a distinct lack of good literature on homosexuality. I enquired at Che office on the possibility of obtaining a few of che note widely clrculaced books and perhaps films (I've heard thaC the Unitarian Church has a passa- bly good one] on homosexuallcy and was told "Well, you'll have to ask again next year, but I sort of doubt ic; 1 mean I imagine che vlewpolnC is noC the sort that we'd like to have identified wich the school..."

I don't believe Chough, Chat simply having Chls material Is going to be good enough. It is not the responsibility of each Individual Co have Co ask if Che Informaclon's there, and go through all the red tape and pub- licity of being marked as being "the kid who wanted books on queers", simply Co geC hold of chls informadon. That's the school's responsibility. Because Che position of the schools in Chls Eoclecy, though. Is one of Instilling and reinforcing the myths about gays, women, blacks, Indians and other oppressed groups. It Is going to take a massive struggle Co destroy chese myths and build a new society.

Coming out in high school, fighting for the right to have homosexuality represented fairly in che school library, or for Che rlghc CO have a gay liberation speaker in to Calk to the students may seem minor but It Is all a part of the struggle for gay 11b-

And we

fill t

r fco^y I

ne^vs

Star continues ban

TOROWTO— The review of »c Toronto Star'a adver- lalag policy re|t«rdlnt ho- lariuul odt ha* been cob- plet«i]. tt wuB reported in the laat Issue of this pa- per ihel the Star had re- fuaod a proBodonal ad for the Body Politic despite the Ontario Prcaa Council's decision that the Star's refusal represented dlscrl- nlnallon.

In 1 June 14th Metlne *leh the president of the iur, Bcland Honderlch, tuo ■nbeta of the Body Politic ;ollectlve and the paper's soUcICor, Fred Zemans

(Parkdale Conniunity Legal Services), were cold that advertisement uould not be accepted. Honderlch was frank In giving his reason:

[ sumaer's article In the Body Politic ent Itled "Of oen and little boys" by Ceroid Hannon renders the Body Politic unaccept- able as an advertiser. He readily acknowledged Chat

) was an arbitrary decl-

1 of Che kind which ev- ncwBpaper muBt nake and one which, he said, he re- gretted but nevertheless stood by.

The Star's chief cxecu- IVQ offered little hope that ToTonta'a evening dai- ly would accept Clie ad In the fcireseeyiblc future. When the representatives of tde Body Politic nencloned the finding of the Preas Council. Mr Hondtrlch ex-

BBcd surprise that the Council found agslnat the Scar and hoped the issue would be brought before the body again, feeling confi- dent that a reconsideration would uphold the Star's po-

Slnce tho SCar'a refu- il. other promotional ad- vertisements for the Body Politic have been submitted various newspapera

■oughout the country, ■e hove accepted the ads than not. The Ottawa Cltl- , the Owen Sound Sun- Times, the Toronto Sun, the Medicine Hat Kewa. the Van-

Che Wlnni-

1 the Mon-

ang thoi

peg Tribune, creal Star

which have prlnced Che pro- Among the decllners the Brantford the Hamilton Spt

the Edmonti

Journal,

I Free Prr

cor.

and the Londi with the ToronCo Sun chang- ing sides afcer having pub- lished che ad, because of complaints" from resders.

Cealnl It, the publics- on of Waterloo Unlvecsl- e* Cny Liberation Move- attempted to secure a fled ad with Che VSz- -W»cerloa Record. The

"^ord advertising manager said that they would print neither the word 'gay' nor 'homosexual', except cases Involving a "plea for help". The Windsor Star. 1 addition to refusing to prloc the Body Pol tele's iClined to publicise Uiadsor Cay Unity's dances. «CU la planning to appeal

0 the Press Council, a% ell as taking other poli-

Howvvcr a ' formal co^ plaint subalttsd by the BF

1 July 20ch to the Ontario Press CouncU against the Mlivlaor Star wisa dl^lsecd:

KacOougall, execu- tive secretary rot ths

"Since the complaint is Identical to the one Invol- ving the Toronto Star, on which che council issued an adjudication. It does noc qualify for consideration In line with Council pol- icy."

The 8P l^cdlacely re- plied by noting chat the council's conatltuCion savs nochlng abouC a policy pro- hibiting reconsideration of complslnts, that each individual case should be considered on its nerlts, and that Che Council "must publicly decry each and every Instance of dlscrlm- Inacion of which you are aware, and to doubly decry examples of discrimination which continue even afcer you condemn Chen..." If che council's stated purpose of encouroging the highest standards of Journalism is to be realized. The letter also argued the right of the Windsor Star's readers to know Chat paper's adver- tising policy; a council decision would yield such knowledge.

As yet, Ht. KacDougall has noc responded. KI« office Indicates he Is on holiday.

Gay centre opens

MONTREAL— An open-house here on June 27th occasion- ed the birth of a Csy Com- munity Centre. The Centre hopes CO provide sny and all necessary services which nay be relevant Co the gay cottnunlty, such as services of a legal or me- dical nature. The Centre Is open dally from 7 to 11 pm, and Is located at 3439 St Denis (telephone: 288- 1101).

The opening was covered by CBC radio, radio station CKW. La Presse, The Mon- treal Star and the Montreal Gazette, with the weekly Sunday Express giving spe- cial coverage to the event.

The Centre Is open on a drop-in basis, with furcher social events planned for the future. The motto of Che Centre Is "Gay Is." The philosophy of che Cen- tre la acceptance of homo- senuala without hassles. .

NO ASSENT

0^ Her Majesty Queen Ell- ^g zabeth II does not feel Justified in sin- gling out gays 'purely on the basis of the 1969 Omni- bus Bfll.' She has refused to send congratulations on Cay Pride Week because 'o- therwise there could be no

tnd (

the 1

II. •

Crombie rejects Gay Pride Week

rOBOWTO — Bryn Lloyd, Mayor David Croable's Exec- utive Dlrec tor , informed the Cay Pride Coal It Ion that 'tlay Pride Week" could not be officially declared sine* the policy of the city declaring specL*' days and weeks was under review.

"...uncU such • tl^." he said, "aa ■ an policy hoa been sutaltced and ap- prov»d by City CouncU, I ragrat we are unable .<o acc»de to your re^u««c."

GATE lobbies Toronto Council

TOBDhTO— A lobbying pro- ject by Toronto's Cay Alli- ance Toward Equality Is now nearlng completion: a re- quest to che Toronto City Council that It prohibit discrimination In municipal eaploynent based on sexual orientation. There are a- bout five thousand workers In the municipal i

vice

I far

itl-

hoBoscxual discrlnlnat Ion has come to CATE's atten- tion. Thus, It wants Coun- cil to affirm openly what appears to have been an Im- plicit policy.

GATE will submit a brief In early September to the CooUttee on Urban Renewal. Housing, Fire, and Leglsla- Cton. Ic must pass chis coDDlctee before going on to full Council.

During che stnaer. GATE delegaces have been meeting Individually with the 12 alderpersons on this con- mittee. For many of them, this was their first en- counter with che organised gay movement. While there has been no outright hosClr llty, a wide range of re- ceptivity has emerged.

One alderperson was very eager to learn about Toron- to's gay population. Ano- ther offered help in word- ing the brief and also no- ted thac City Hall has many gay employees. Others

seemed evasive or admitted opposition to homosexuality on the grounds of "human construct ion" — chat Is, it Juat doesn't work "chat way."

GATE is urging Toronto's gay comunlty Co support this Important effort by asking their alderpersons to back the brief and by appealing directly to Mayor David Crombie for his sup- port. "Success in this en- deavour," a GATE spokesman said, "will augur well for more ambitious proposals which we are planning to bring before che govern- ment. We hope thac all gay people will give us their

It's not the individual that's bad and insane but the society in which she lives... ^,.. i

Cops harry park users

Correction
The president of	the
University of Saskatch	•wan
Honophlle Association	is
Bev Siller, not Ben as	re-
ported in che last issue. 1

TORONTO — The Metro Tor- onto Police morality squad has recently changed its tactics, cxpeclally In the High Park area. Previous- ly, plain-clothes men would practice entrapment. How, however, uniformed police- men are pacrollng che area asking recreanCs whechcr Chey have been convicced of a sexual offence, usually gross Indecency or IndecenC asasulC. If che Individual quescioned responds affiru- stively, he is charged with Vagrancy E, a section of che Criminal Code which prohibits persons previous- ly so convicted from using public places of recrea- te Is also noteworthy that when a charge of gross tndecencv Is laid. It la accompanied by a charge of

committing on tndi^cenc nrr. The first of these is _an Indictable offence, whilr the second Is merely a sim- mary offence, which carries a lighter penalty. The in- tent is to manoeuver thi- accused Into pleading guil- ty to the lesser charge, ho that an easy conviction c.in be obtained. The accused is saddled with a police record which can only be e- raaed after a Cwo-year wait and an Investigation by Che RCMP.

A charge of gross inde- cency can be tried In Coun- ty Court, where an uncondl- Clonal discharge la usually obCalned. Buc this requires money. Hence, most accused decide to plead guilty to the lesser charge of com- mitting an indecent act.

Unitarians establish gay office

TORONTO — During the week of Kay 29th to June 3rd, the Unicarlan-Unlversallsc Association held Its Gen- eral Assembly at che Royal York Hocel In Toronco. A- moog che 1300 delegaces from all over Norch America was a small but very visi- ble group of members from che W Cay Caucus, sporting large pink and lavender buttons identifying thea as

This was an Important year because the caucus was able CO obtain the Support of more than 30 congrega- tions to place on the agen- da a resolution calling on the injA Board to establish on Office of Cay Affairs at denominational headquarters In Boston, Prior to the Aaacably, the Board hod u- nanlmoualy rcco^wndrnd the defeat of the resolution.

Opposiclon came from o- ther quarters as well. Rev Donald Ilarrlogton of the large and influential Com- munity Church of New York described homosexuality as a psychological dysfunction similar to cleptomanla. Al- so, the caucus' display ta- ble was upended one night and materials were stolen. The hotel securicy ataff refused to cake any cespon- slblllcy.

The 20 or more gay cau- cus mooters conducced an Intensive personal lobby campaign and gradually won enough delegate support to make passage of che resolu- tion a possibUicy. How- ever, due Co che reluccance of the UtlA Board and eape- clally of ita chairman. Or Robert West, an amendment to the resolution was pass- ed which stripped the UUA

of financial reaponslblllty for Che OGA. The effect of this amendment was somewhat moderated by a further .im- endment which comnltted the tnJA to help th* gay caucus In seeking funds for the OCA.

During the course of the Assembly, the caucus was aided by the W Women's Fe- deration. Toronto GATE, and the Body Po 1 1 t_lc ; George

Hlslop, prealdent of CHAT, participated with W gaya In a celevlson taping.

iraged by Che (acC that

tt acqui

red

■bers who used che OCA

and brothers.

The OUA Ccmeral Assw*ly m*«ts rmxt r*ar -la law

York.

news

MCC Toronto Mission Opens

Gay Bar Raided

TOROKTO — The Metropoli- tan Comnunity Church of To- into has begun holding fening worship services at Ight o'clock in the s.mc- lary of Holy Trinity Church, 10 Trinity Square.

HCC-1

with the Universal, FellovGhip of HCC's, and will be seeking foil chart- ered status as an tndepen- mous church of the fellowship which began ago under the leadership of Rev Troy D Perry. It is a church for gay people who, with good have felt alienat- ed, excluded and condemned aalnline christian groups .

MCC-Toronto, under the pastorate of Rev Bob Wolfe, former pastor of HCC-Sacra- nento and former coordinat- )r of the northwest Dis- :rlct of UFMCC, plans to offer a range of services i members and to all gays, after consultation with established gay groups 1 Toronto.

While MCC la a trlnlta- Lan christian church, it upholds each Individual's right to his -or her own knowledge of God and God's love and will. As such, the church does not seek to In-

CHAL

receives

charter

qtll-BEC— Quebec City fot- lally adds another group lo Canada's Gay Liberation ivement; CHAL (Centre Hu- nltaire d'Aide et de Li- beration). CHAL has been

for

yeai

but has Just recently been

granted a government chart- is a nonprofit organlsa- I. Membership Is not ricted and the core group conslstB of nine gay and women and two straights.

Its objectives are the integration of honoBexuala Into straight society, and

the

coBBunicatlon links with the gay community Itself jch. Its activities are not directed towards con- frontation, but rather to , providing services for its constituents through elllng and consc ious- ■taislng sessions. In the line of public educa- tion, CHAL has devised an audio-visual Inforoiatlon

kit which it uses in meet- ings with Interested ■alght groups. It has io arranged for air tine Laval University's FM and is working on

fe^

-cle

for

;bec magazine. As well, ? group DSintalos close itact with other social rvice organisations, such venereal disease and psychotherapy clinics.

In October, CHAL wtll be hosting the national con- ference of Gay organlsa- ■'-ins to be held at Laval University. By that time.

:> have

; headquarters

cerfere with any Indlvldu. or group whose beliefs dll fer. As il grows, tl church will try to woi cooperatively and suppori Ively with all groups < gay men and wooien who ai I the Of

MCC Is seeking both men ship and f el lowsh Ip . Be- ll ly been excluded from :hurch leadership roles, :he Fellowship has now es- :ablished a pollcv of af- firmative action for women.

Stanfield still in opposition

TORONTO — The following exchange of letters took place In June between the Body Politic and the office of the Honourable Robert Stanfield. Leader of the opposition Progressive Con- servative Party:

Dear Mt Stanfield,

We are sending you a news clipping from Issue 6 of our newspaper, as well as 3 complete copy of the latest Issue, number 8.

You are quoted as saying that you feel there should be no changes In the laws affecting homosexuals ^In this country. Is this a fair assessment of/our po- sition? If so. we feel It can only be the result of ignorance. Surely a man who has devoted his politi- cal career to the pursuit of Justice and civil liber- ties for all Canadians could not be bent on deny- ing these rights to ten per cent of the population.

We would appreciate a letter conmienting on your statement In Vancouver, and.

explaining your position on equal rights for homosexual citizens. The question- naire in small print at the bottom of the enclosed clipping win give you some idea of our demands.

Thank you. I am sure we can expect a considered re- ply.

Yours sincerely, Gerald Hannon Co-ordlnator.

Dear Mr Hannon,

The Honourable Robert L Stanfield has asked me to thank you sincerely for your letter of June 7th concerning a statement at- tributed to him in Vancou-

Quite frankly, Mr Stan- field's statement is ex- tremely straightforward, and explicit. There does-

that could be said to cla- rify our scate»ent In any

Yours sincerely, Hugh Segal Special

Assistant.

VAIICOirVEP— Late On the night of June 30th, Vancou- ver police raided Hampton Court Club, a gay disco- theque. In the course of Che raid, police seised li- quor supplies, vandalised the premises, and terror- ised the customers. Van- couver GATE has lodged o

with

Poll,

sloner against the incident of harassment.

The police were appar- ently acting under rarely unforced provisions of the British Columbia Liquor Act, which outlaws the sale of liquor without a licence and the consumption of li- quor in a public place. Ithough liquor may be i

Hithoi sulked

t III

and <

ivate clubs, ay clubs do not fall under the legal definition of a 'club'. since they are operated for a profit. 'levertheless, many str.

: mil

ditions and none of these has been the object of a police attack.

The police entered the establishment wlohout prior warning by smashing down the entrance door. Once inside, they proceeded to photograph customers. Sgt Glover of the Vancouver po- lice told one of the owners of the club, who was pre- sent at the time, that the raid was not an isolated incident. Said Clover, "Don't think we're singling you out."

In a press release issu- ed by Vancouver GATE, chairperson Maurice Flood said, "The indiscriminate and unwarranted photograph- ing of the clients— which was also from the law en- forcement Dolnt of view un- necessary— is, we think, an 'unreasonable infringement' on the privacy of others, under the two-year-old Pri- vacy Act. If the police are simply confiscating li- quor on a premises, they have no right to employ ex-

■ fort

othi

to intimidate people, es- pec lally when no charges are being laid against

Vancouver Police Inspec- tor Robinson phoned Flood ure him that the po-

lice

■ally £

□ us about the photc that all of them, except pictures of beer bottles, would be destroyed. This dubious assurance, unaccom- panied by any evidence of good faith, was rejected by

Floi

, who

ulch-

OHRC representative backs

gay civil rights struggle

OTTAWA — On June 7th, re- presentatives of Gays of/ d' Ottawa met with Anna Whitley, Human Rights Offi- cer with the Ontario Human Rights Connlssion. The pur- pose of arranging this meeting was to sbress the need for legislative pro- tection for gays and to make the Conolssion aware of the problems gays face.

As it turned out, Ms Whitley was well aware of all the ridiculous contra- dictions In sntl-gay argu- ments and she keenly sup- ports the struggle for full equality for gays.

As stressed by Dr Daniel Kill, Chairman of the OHRC, in his meeting with Toronto GATE, what the Commission needs now Is documented cases of discrimination In employment and housing. Without these, the Coimls- sion finds It difficult to push for legislative chan-

rlentailon is not within the purview of the Human Rights Code.

Other points gleaned from the Interview with Ms Whitley were:

-At preliminary limlgra- tlon interviews, much dis- cretion is allowed the In-

draw his protest, saying, "City Hall and the Police Department have. In effect. been playing cat and mouse with ._ the gay coooiunity. These clubs have existed

openly for a numbt-r of years with the full know- ledge of the authorities. It Is repugnant that homo-

to put themselves in an il- legal situation when they simply seek to congregate socially. Me are hounded enough as it is without this additional harassment. Obviously, as any decent individual can understand, the gay clubs ought to be licenced to prevent putting Innocent people In a situ- ation where they are sub- ject CO arrest and a form of police survelllance- uhen all they are doinc is assembling pGiiceably."

King agrees to meet with GATE

VANCOUVER— with the e- lectlon of the new HDP gov- ernment in British Columbia and the coming revision of the BC Human Rights Act Vancouver GATE has been campaigning for the inclu- sion of sexual brlenCation among the grounds on which discrimination is prohibit- ed In BC.

During the period when the Act came up for reurrit- ing, Rosemary Brown, '.HA for Vancouver-Burracd, de- livered a speech in the BC House on civil rights. As a result of GATE'S inter- vention in the last provin- cial election, Ms Brown In- cluded gays In her speech and, for Che first clroe in Canada, a politician cha- racterised us as a minori- ty group in a call for an end to dlscrlmlnacion. »^ gainst us.

GATE has been in commu- nication with BC Labour Mi- nister William King, who is responsible for the rewrit- ing of the Human Rights Act. Originally, King ad- vised GATE that, in his o- pinion, "homosexuality should not receive the be- nefit of legal sanction." In a press release, GATE chairperson Maurice Flood countered with a strong re- ply: "To advise homosexuals to, in effect, conceal Cheir IdenClCles. Is the same as telling a black person chat so long as he or she remains in Che ghet- to and stays in line, there will be no problem."

With Che publication of this press release. Minis- ter King replied in a new- found vein of co-operation and agreed to meet with GATE regarding proccction of gays in the BC Human Rights Act. GATE has sub- mitted 3 brief to King in pi^eparation fof this [meet- ing and the meeting is pen- ding at this time.

of (

illoi

ury.

Make

your homosexuality. Preferably, have a lawyer there with you.

-Recent refusals by in- dividual highschool princi- pals to allow speakers from GO to address students will be reported to the OHRC and to the Board of Education. Any Instances of sexist and anti-gay material in school textbooks should be report- ed to GO, who will bring the matter to the attention

of the Board of Education and the OHRC.

-All Instances of dls- criainatlon on the grounds of gender are Illegal and should be reported to the OHSC. The only cases in which a landlord has the right CO refuse to rent to someone on the grounds of sex Is where he shares fa- cilities with the tenants or where the building is rented solely to members of one sex {eg, YWCA»),

(frt

I CO into)

The Body PolHi.

CHAT Moves

TOKUNTO -- Durlni; Che Itac weekend tn June, Che o^unlty HoDophlle Asso- latlon of Toronto moved to a pernanent location at 201 Church Street. A capacity rcAid attended the opening

escribed by the organlia- lon as "probably the mast odern of all honoEexual prealsea In all of North aerlca."

The Centre Is opeo three Ights a week (Friday, Sat- rday and Sunday) for licensed dances, and Tues- doy for weekly meetings.

CHAT completed Its move tn early July by locating administrative offices down the street from the re. at Z2l Church St. {3rd floor).

Gayly Speaking

;ckly gay llbi^ration pro-

erumDic, "r.ayly Speaking,"

II begin broadcasting on

the nlglit of September 6Ch,

12. JO AM on WDEn:-FM

(101.9). The progroiBnc has

been organised by the Cay

ELidto Collective of Detroit

group of men and women.

The Collecct

dive.

opic

foi

of i

■ gay

1 foi

id for gay peo- ple, and wtll draw on the arli^d experiences and ide- is of many gay people in he wider Detroit gay coin- lunlty.

Topics of the first four proRrammes wlH be: 'Csmlng lut', 'Sexiatn and straight Iff lety', 'Sexism in the ;ay consimnlty', and "Cay actlltles In the Detroit irefl'. Each programme will Include news and announcc- pents as well.

WDET-FM la heard outside Detroit In Windsor <Ontl, Ann Arbor (Hi), and by cable in London (Ont) .

Trans vest ite

murdered

MONTREAL - ipened an investigation In- o what appears the city's 2Sth murder since the be- Innlng of '73.

The victim was a 36 year Id transvestlte, Laurlac arceau, known also as Lolo d ' Amour." He was

ind 3 E

:ated

the

east end of the city.

He was taken to the "hotel de Dteu" Hospital by Police where, minutes after arrival, he died of a frac- tured skull. At the time, Carceau was dressed as a woiun. An autopsy deter- mining cause of death is to be perfomed.

Workers support ousted gay

SYDSEY— In June. Austra- lian construction workers prohibited all work on the half-ftnished university

here because a student was expelled when he said he

i> a practising hmoaexu- A spokeSBdn for the

:ate Bulldlns Laborers Fe- deratton said it had lapos- ed the ban at the rcquMt

( the atudents union.

nevf s

Ottawa: Gays Meet

OTTAHA— A conference of gay organisations was hos- ted by Cays of/d'Ottawa in the capital on Hay IQth and 20th. Although originally planned as a meeting of On- tario groups, Che presence of cepresentatives fro» British Columbia, Quebec, and Che Narltinies. turned the gathering into an in- foraal, quasi-national con- ference. The following groups were represented: Vancouver GATE, Gay People at UBC. Waterloo Universi- ties Gav Liberation Movp- menC, Hamllton-HcMaster Gay Liberation Movement, Commu- nity Homophlle Association of Toronto, the Body Poli-

ollei

Tot<

NDP Conference

VAHCOUVEB— At the

uly

NDP national held on the UBC campus in Vancouver, an openly gay delegate attempted to raise the question of gay civil Tights and organised gays leafletted other delegates and hangers-on. Neverthe- less, Canada's self-styled socialist party chose to ignore the oppression of gay people.

Maurice Flood, who Is also chairperson of Vancou- ver GATE, was the only de- legate who tried Co bring gay issues to the attention of Che party. Although hla

illy. GATE

Pl.mk.

.isked chat the party call for the repeal of all anti- homosexual legislation and the amendment of the Cana- dian Bill of Rights to in- clude the category 'sexual orientation' . About 1500 leaflets were distributed and, as a result, a number of closeted gays contacted GATE.

A handful of delegates publicly charged that Che NDP is supporting regres- sive policies by sustaining the Liberal

GATE, Anlk (Toronto), Gays of/d'Ottaua. Gay Montreal, Centre Homosexuel d'Alde et Liberation (Quebec City), and Cay Alliance foF Equa- lity (Halifax).

The first dav nf the conference was taken up by the reports from various groups. On the second day, presentations were made by Toronto GATE, outlining a

though party leader David Lewis denied Che charges, the NDP appeared to be sli- thering toward a new low in

convention, 'rife with sex- ism and bureaucratic power rips' according to Maurice

Flo<

>ced

■eje<

irli;

Al-

proposal to set aside time for a discussion of women's rights. In these circum- stances, the failure of a gay rights resolution to reach the floor surprising.

effort

ful.

Cynthia Flood (Maurice

Flood's wife) managed to have gay women mentioned In a resolution on the family. Flood later described hln- 'somewhat bitterly

lappc

Inted',

Outside tt hall, GATE members, coor- dinated by Bob Cook, handed out leaflets urging the NDP

idopt

gay

rights

"Breaking the ice"- Gay Medio Grant

OTTAWA — The Department of the Secretary of State has approved an application (or an OFY grant for four people to make a series of four one-half-hour video- tape television programmes. These programmes will be

ality, Discrimination, Op- pression and Prejudice" and

will use a variety of pre- sentations for its format. Two members of Gays of/ d'Ottawa are working on Che project: Peter Lancastle and Terry Relchey. All'

forms of sexuality will be cxatnined. The name of the series is "Breaking the Ice."

(fri

GO info)

OFY application turned down

VANCOUVER— Secretary of SCate Hugh Faulkner person- ally curned down an OFY ap- plication for a gay ser- vices centre in Vancouver.

Ian Kackeniie, spokes- person for the Service and Information Centre project, charged that "the real needs of the Vancouver gay community have been ignor- ed, because of politics and prejudice". Noting that a similar grant has been ap- proved for the Kitchener (Ont) area, Mackenzie said. "I guess Kitchener is safe for the Liberals."

Faulkner stopped this

Union Threatens Gays

applii

had

been okayed by:

— Vancouver OFY project officers Gregg Macdonald and Chris Wooten;

—a 'blue-ribbon' Van- couver citizens review cow-

: Beck, dlrectt

Beck had previously sta- ted on a Vancouver hotline show that funding for a gay services project would not be denied.

The Service and Inforw-

represented what Hsckeniie

TORONTO — In the Spring issue ('73) of the OTF Reporter, the official pub- lication of the Ontario Teacher's Federation, a section outllnijig discip- linary action for unpro- fessional conduct recon- nends the following: "That uheve a manber has been found guilty of a homoBexval offense involv- ing another adult, th£ ff«™ lationn and Dieaipline Cam- mittee reocmende [%} can- cellation if the m^nber is a aonfirmed dexfiate, or <ii) euBpenaicn of the teaoher'o certificate if the nanber d^ee not appear to be a aonfirmed deviate and there are extenuating ci ri^wnB tanoes . "

The account continued by

kers and students, working with Woocnn and HacVonald, felt would have been accep- table to Ottawa.'

The project, as It was submitted, was non-polltl- cal. All Che "cooounlty"

of it. Hackeniie and his group asked for simply a counselling and infornatioa service and a VD clinic. ffroB the Crape)

noting Chat the above are guidelines to assist the committee, and chat besides meeting with the member, "any extenuating circum- stances" should always be

As a resolution It was passed at the OTF's Spring

ting;

[Other solution was referred to the organlzat Ion ' s execu- clve and che Relacions and Discipline coomictee for study. The second resolu- tion supposedly recognized the fact that to be a "con- firmed deviate" is not an offence, since acts between adults are legal in Canada, Responding to a letter from Toronto's Gay Alliance Toward Equality. Nora Hodglns, Secretary-Treas- urer of OTF, acknowledged

point you made with regard to homosexual acts between consenting adults." She also promised to inform GATE of "the action taken at our Board of Governors Meeting In August and will also put a notice ol any change In the OTF Report-

propoacd strategy for c nest general election, and by the Body Pulltlc. dcfli tng its role In the movi ment and making suggestions for increased exchange of Infomatlon between groups. Also discussed were Ini- tial pUns for Cay Prtdo Week In August. A press release was Issued to thr media following the confer-

The

latl<

in Quebec City.

Prairie gays prepare brief

of Saskatchewan Homophlle Association (Rcglna campus) In Saskatoon on July

7th

dlsi

consDon interest and ways ul working together for guy rights In Saskatchewan. The meeting was the 1 irst In wliat Is planned Co be a series of regular meetings every two months.

The main area of discus- sion was n brief to be pre- sented to Cho provincial government calling for

changes in Saskatchewan hu- man rights legislation. The brief calls for the in- clusion of 'sexual orienta- tion' as a ground on which people cannot be discrimi- nated against In the Sask- dtchewan Bill of Rights Act, the Fair Employment Act, the Fair Accomodation Act, and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission Act,

The recommendations of the brief are being sup- ported by [he Saskatchewan Human Rights Association ,

the same rccomnendations to the government in a bziel of their own. The Human Rights Association is in che process of arranging a meeting with a few cabinet ministers for the presenta- ■tion of the brief by SGA and USHA.

Saskatoon-University MLA John Richards has expressed an interest in gay rights and has Indicated a will- ingness to meet with SGA and also to arrange a meet- ing with local MLAs to dis- cuss the brief and other areas of concern for gay

Lesbian conference first in Canada

TORONTO— June 30 at the YWCA on McCill Street there was a lesbian get-together that drew women from

Toronto and other cities in Ontario, The day began at 10 a.m. with workshops on Lesbian Feminism, Relation- ships, Coming Out, Lesbians and jobs and Lesbian

Mothers. Other highlights Included a demonstration In Mendo, self-defence for women and a presentation of street theatre by an OFY- funded group of women known as the ■ Beiumba Theatre whose repertoire Included skits and songs centered around women's consclous- nesB. The festival was con- cluded by an informal dance at the same prcalses and next day there was a picnic on the Toronto Islands. All In all It waa a very refre- ■hlng progra* which should perhaps bccowe an annual

Page 8				The Body Politic
		B
^011	^M	SIl ©if	s	pOBS
NIGHT CLUBS	5.	La Grande Discotheque, 77-A, St. Catherine E., mixed, after hours,	10.	Rocambole, 1426 Stanley St., young , mixed

		licensed.
1. Apollo 5116 Park Ave. 2nd & 3rd			11.	Rose Rouge, 2042 MacKay, male
floors, male, French crowd.	6.	Lincoln Cafe, 4479 St. Denis,
		older crowd.	12.	Saguenay, 984 St. Laurent, drag
2. Bud's Bar Salon. 1250 Stanley St				show
Leather, male, no dancing.	7.	Love Discotheque, 1418 Guy St., upstairs, young, freak.	13.	Tarot, 1459 St. Alexandre, mixed
3. Cher Femand, 1232 Peel St., old			14.	Club 1160, 1160 Sherfarooke St. E.
er mixed crowd, piano bar.	8.	Monarch Cafe, 162 St. Catherine E French		Piano, Discotheque, Restaurant, straight, gay, male bar
4. L'Etoile de I'Est, 4490 Ontario,
downstairs, male & female go-go	9.	P.J.'s, 1430 Peel St., mixes.	15.	Maisonneuve, Lasalle Hotel,
dancers.		drag show. " A PatcMt. Roysl /i.		Drummond St., mixed discotheque
^^^
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	Ci^	l"""""-.^ S&erbrooke / /		/zS / / of ^'^
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•^	y de 1		/^	^—--^^^
HIGHT CLUBS: WOMEN ONLY	21	Dominion Square Tavern, 1243 Metcalfe St.	26	Dominion Square
16. Baby Face, 1235 Dorcester Blvd.	W.		27	Pare La Fontaine
Piano Bar & Discotheque	22	Montreal Tavern, 1415 St. Laurent
17. Madame Arthur's, 2170 Bishop St.		Blvd.	OTHERS: 1
discotheque	' SAUNAS:
			28	Gay Drop-in-Centre, 3439 St.
18. Pont de Paris, 1278 St. Andre,	23	. Aquarius, 1183 Crescent		Denis, daily 7-11, phone 288-1101
rough
	24	Hew AquariuH, St, Alexandre &	29	Gay McGUl, 3480 McTavish St.
19. Le Sabre. 405 Craig St. W.		La Gauchetiere
TAVERMS: MEN ONLY			Prepared by Gay Line \|
	CRUISING SPOTS:
20. Peel Pub, 1107 St. Catherine St
West.	25	. Pare Mt. Royal		843-8849 daily 8-12

The Body Politic

Page 9

books

academics on sex

The Goals of Human Sexuality, by Irving Singer, N.Y., W. W. Norton and Company, 1973.

Man and Woman, Boy and Girl: Differ- entiation and Dimorphism of Gender Identity From Conception to Maturity, John Money and Anke A. Ehrhardt, Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1972.

How could anyone interested, how- ever remotely, in sexual liberation not be curious about a book which through its title proclaims to reveal The Goals of Kuman Sexuality? More- over it's by a philosopher, one of chose creatures whose recondite stu- dies seen, far removed from such mun- dane stuff as sex. But Irving Singer, professor of philosophy at M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Techno- logy) , has not only forsaken the abstruse, he's even managed to bypass that other philosophical quagmire - theoretical speculation. Instead he examines the nitty-gritty of sexual- ity - orgasm. His conclusion (which tends to verify his premise) is that the ends of sexuality are several. Thus, homosexuals come out O.K. as far as the author of The Nature of Love: Plato to Luther is concerncc.

Singer faults Freud's ambivalence toward homosexuality as still leaving the door ajar for social repression because despite its liberal features (that is, Freud's famous letter to an American mother) the Freudian theory of sexuality requires hetero- sexual coitus as the mature end of sexuality. "In Pcc'ecting essentialism, T am also re^eeting tlie idea that heterosexual coitus has been ordained as the optimal or exalusive goal for all human beings."

Well, the Gay Liberation Move- ment has been saying that for several years now, yet Singer stops short of fully endorsing a Gay Liberation cri- tique of sexuality in a sexually well adjusted society. He contends that homosexuality will never be a viable sexual release for all people, nor even for most. Tet this claim is con- ditional: "As long as homosexuality remains a minority interest for human beings^ as for all other species^ it can }tot function as an equally viable means by which everyone may express his or her sexuality."

My reaction to his analysis is twofold; first, as an hypothesis it is contingent upon a number of factors some innate and others social — for example, the change in attitudes toward homosexuality which the Gay Liberation may foster. Second, so what? Sexuality is not a matter for proselytization - or at least it is not for me - and thus Singer somewhat distorts what he calls "the homosexual 'jTgumenz". Otherwise Singer's treat- ment of homosexuality, while meager, is fair.

It's a bit surprising that a philosopher writing about sexuality does not "metaphysicalize", "existen- ciallze , or "phenoraenologiae" about Its meaning or "signification" — after all. Isn't that what we've come to expect from the latter day practi- tioners of the Socratic trade? No -

Singer sticks to an analysis of the physiological, and to some extent, psychological, aspects of sex. In so doing, he joins an ever increasing number of basically medical profes- sionals whose work in sexuality is only now beginning to appear In the popular ( and termlnologically under- standable) press. The most recent and perhaps most comprehensible dis- tillation of current scientific think- ing is the pedantically - and, to my mind, humorously entitled book: Man and Woman, Boy and Girl: Dif- ferentiation and Dimorphism of Gender Identity From Conception to Maturity, by John Money and Anke A. Ehrhardt. Among others, the evidence presented and analyzed is culled from the fields of genetics, endocrinology, social anthropology, psychology, neurosurgery and others. Since "gender identity" and "gender role" are central concepts in sexual liberation theory, this book is not unrelated to the Gay Liberation Movement.

Now John Money is not an eneny of gay people; he- has even expressed his support for the Gay Liberation Movement. Thus, I read this book as one written by Money the scientist (along with his colleague, a social psychologist), and I was a bit annoyed. While they are not so foolish as to suggest that homosexuals are mixed- up people confused as to their mas- culinity and femininity, he does categorize homosexuality as a para- philia along with coprophllia, fet- ishism, necrophilia, urophilia, narratophilla (lots of sex talk), . pictophilia (looking at dirty pictures)

ad nauseiim Paraphilia is "a

psychosexual condition of being re- sponsive to, and dependent on an unusual or unacceptable stimulus in order to have a state of sexual arousal initiated or maintained, and in order to achieve or facilitate orgasm. " He also says that "homo- sexuality and transexualism represent incongruities of gender identity."

And although he places no normative interpretation upon these observations they are nonetheless peculiar, par- ticularly since the authors offer no operational definition of gender iden- tity vis-a-vis a gender role, and vice versa. At best they are ambi- valent and equivocal: "It doesn't matter if father cooks the dinner and mother drives the tractor. Cul- tural and historical variations of the masculine and feminine social and vocational roles are acceptable so long as there are clear boundaries delineating, at a minimum, the re- productive and erotic roles of the sexes . "

The reproductive roles of men and women, respectively, are for the present quite clear. But what of the erotic roles? Money and Ehrhardt are evasive. This, I maintain, is a central question which if left unanswered could be used to smuggle in that old Freudian essentiallsm which our two scientists reject as too simple. Moreove, they develop a principle of "complementation" to account for gender identity/role acquisition in children to accompany the old "identification theory" of developmental and social psycholo- gists. This principle is nowhere rigorously defined, but it means that "children can differentiate a gender role and identity by uny of comple- mentation to members of the opposite sex, and identification wizh members of the same sex." But if an opera- tional definition is lacking, the dynamics of this (still another?) gender differentiation principle are confusing because: "It is even possible that, in a home with one parent absent and no member of the opposite sex present domestically, the remaining parent me^f, by reasons of complementation, be able to sub- stitute for tJie parent in absentiai' The confusion is heightened when we recall the rules of cooplementarl- ty: "The rules of male-female corrp-

Page 10

The Body Politic

books

lementarity in behavior vary accord' ing to ethnic location and history, but the fixed pivot around which all rules vary is that women menstruatej gestate, and lactatej and men don't. Secondary to this pivotal difference are others. TkuBj women have breasts arid a feminine smell; they do not have whiskered faces^ Adam 's apples and deep voices; and they are not called he or him. It is vice versa for men." If these are the rules, how can the completnentaclon principle work with one parent? This is not explained, suggesting the principle needs to be modified or scrapped.

This extended discussion of the "complementation principle" merely highlights the denouement thus far of the scientific research on gender identity/role. Homosexuality, we learn, 'WZZ most likely be eventually explained as the product of interac- tion between prenatal and postnatal deteiminants . " Not too enlightening! Ue are assured thac male and female gender identity is not pre-ordained by sex chromosomes or prenatal hor- monal history. Through an elaborate discussion of pre and postnatal con- stitutional developments explored by the various life sciences (yes, all those rat experiments are recorded, plus frogs, guinea pigs, rhesus monkeys, dogs - and even turkeys) we are left with this final evalua- tion: "All the words in all twelve chapters of this book do not add up to give the power of prophecy as to how any given individual child will grow up sexually and psychosexually. There are many intervening variables still to be ascertained, and many opportunities for fate to let chance make decisions. Impressive as may he the growing body of knowledge on human psychosexual differentiation ^ no one aonaemed with research need feel like Alexander, crying for lack of new worlds to conquer, "

Herb Spiers

gay sheep

The Lord ts My Shepherd and he Knows I m Gay, by Reverend Troy Perry as told to Charles L. Lucas, Nash Pub- lishing, Los Angeles, 1972, 232 pages, §10.25

1 he Rev. Troy Perry is the foun- der of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Community Church, the first church to consist primarily of homosexuals, and to fight openly for gay rights.

The MCC was founded in October of 1968. From a dozen people, it has grown to a Universal Fellowship with missions in cities all across North America including a new one in Toronto,

Should some malicious American bureaucrat sign the right papers and Perry becomes a martyr. The Lord is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay might become the new Bible - tragic, for it needs two thousand years of revision to eke out its literary value.

From a purely informational point of view, parts of the book - descri- bing the beginnings of Gay Lib in L.A. and the founding of the MCC - are quite fascinating. Unfortunately someone decided that this should be an autobiography, the result being

that at least a third of the book Is devoted to Perry's intensely boring childhood.

He spares us nothing. "When I

stare into the beginnings of my soul I know that I feel the force of the cosmos and the infinity of God... I have a total sense memory that pre- dates my birth by a good long time... an awareness of having been... in my father's sperm and in my mother's ovum before they united,

"Sometimes I think it's just like catching the brass ring on the merry go round. I guess if you follow the lau of averages, those who catch the brass ring turn out to be homosexuals...

"So this merry-go-round, this carrousel turns, as a child's kalei- doscope revolves, changing images constantly^ So do I reflect upon my own beginnings. I've pondered my many beginnings many, many times. "

If the ghost was as important as is intimated in the book, I suppose trehave him to blame for this. I can only say that I hope Mr. Lucas hasn't captured Perry's style, yet I'd rather assume that he has than that he writes this poorly on his own. Perhaps the third person would have helped.

The Reverend Perry does have a great deal of conviction about gay rights, and he will not back down from his position. Here are excerpts of a letter (riiich he has sent to churches presumably all over the U.S.

"For two thousand years I have watched you try to destroy my brothers and sisters. . .

"You have watched as we were placed on the rack, thrown to the flames', banished from tfie midst of society, and you have never said a word! .. .after almost four hundred years, you saw.. .the water hoses, cattle prongs and dags. . .used on black men, women and children... At once your blind eyes opened to some of the social injustices around you.

"Sometimes you still weep for the lonely child-soldiers. . .that are dying in a dirty little war in Viet Nam.

"But what of homosexuals? T>id you weep when one was beaten to death by police in Los Angeles?. ..shot in the back. . .in Berkeley. ..imprisoned for life in Florida? Does it upset you that there are riots in New York ...and that homosexuals demonstrating for their rights in California are arrested. ..If it does, you have not shown it..."

My Immediate reaction would be to say that with such a ringing con- demnation, it is strange he has not seen through the church. He can see it as an institution of inclusion-

exclusion: an instrument of power, but does he not recognize the human genesis of that power? To suppose that God could create a system as corrupt and as corrupting, is to deny the existence of that deity.

Yet Perry's gay church con- fuses my conviction in this matter, for assuming that you are homosexual and that you must have a god, then by definition that god should be homosexual Coo. The fact that this Is not part of the doctrine of the MCC is not irrelevant but carries small weight because it is inherent in the concept of a gay church. This in itself is not, however, sufficient validation for the exis- tence of one. The fact that we have for so long been associated in the common consciousness with the lowest of the low, makes this positive con- nection with the "highest of the high" a most glorious statement of our pride And the founding of the MCC becomes something of a coup in gay liberation.

Yet another consideration is the prlveleged status accorded by govern- ment to churches^ As a church, the MCC can offer all of the social ser- vices offered by any other gay com- munity centres. In addition, the church is in the unique position of being able to bring together gay minors for worship, without Infring- ing on the laws regarding them. And of course most important are the tax concessions available to churches and church properties. Taxes are not entirely crippling for other gay organizations but every dollar helps, and gays have too long supported government without just representation.

Given these facts the founding of the MCC seems more and more a clever turnabout of the way of things. But I must now temper what ever admiration has crept in, for such a move, though winningly un- precedented, contains certain pit- falls, the primary one being that to maintain the status of church it is necessary to synthesize a certain degree of respectability.

Rev, Perry confesses a certain conservative element in himself, and among the most telling things said is that, "God does not condemn me for a sex drive he has created in me. He doesn't condemn me unless I leave the areas of love and go into the areas of destructive, excessive lust."

This seems a dismissal of promls- cuity„ His recent carriage further suggests a prejudice tofc-ards nonogatry. Not to dismiss that, but it does look as though he is not really making his own rules.

Obviously it is too simple to say that Perry Is eager only to be included, for we can see by his con- demnation of other churches that this Is not the case. We are left to as- sume that he really does believe in God, and the institution of the church as God's representation on earth. He wants only to make it a more mean- ingful expression of God's love for all of mankind.

Confronted thus, I can only throw up my hands and slide the Lord and his sheep back on the shelf with the dust and the pope.

Merv Walker

The Body Politic

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books

womaniffesto

Lesbian Hatlon:The Feminist Solution, Jill Johnston, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1973, 283pp., ^9.25.

bfislcally what jLll Johnston's latest book is about the re-making of Jill Johnston lesbian, the cycle of the book begins with the town hall affair of may 1971, the billed stars of which were norman(th£ prisoner of sex) mailer & germalne (the female eunoch) grecr, & how jill stole the show, & ends with the actual speech shs delivered upon that occasion. In Between all that are six sections tracing the personal development of our heroine, "a series of great escapes" is the account of her early lesbian life during the transition from the 50*s to the 60*s Including her own transition from closet les- bian of the "old conspiracy of silence" (p. 77) genre, through giving In to society & going straight com- plete with husband & children, through going mad, paranoid & schiz- ophrenic, to giving up & becoming herself, a gay, albeit apolitical, woman, this progression which she herself might call an "illysey of gullibles travels" (village voice, July 27, 1972) was contemporaneous with the stonewall riots (new york city, 1969) & the advent of the gay revolution, "slouching towards con- sciousness" concerns her Involvement In the women's & gay movements back when gay women weren't recognized as anything but a bothersome pres- ence, her own personal/political searching is demonstrated in record book notes some of her columns from the village voice over the period of late 1969 to early 1971, this is continued in "lesbian feminism" which is ms. Johnston's evolving to a definite politics of lesbian fem- inism within her writing for the village voice & in "record book en- tries (march 1971 - december 1971)" through personal daily notes & fur- ther samples of some of her best w columns, at this point the book ceases to be a personal odyssey and becomes a highly articulate, enlight- ening and often amusing political statement, "amazons & archdykes" is about rediscovering women's history (herstory), such as the amazons & other ancient matriarchies which have been obliterated by male his- torians since the switch to patriar- chal states & cultures, further dis- cussion considers the natural & bio- logical superiority of women due to our being the original parthenogene- tic (self-reproductive) sex & the male-perpetrated perversion of the authentic female myths from the age of our prehistoric amazon sisters, following this is the statement ("on a clear day you can see your mother," vv may 6, 1971) she read for the de- bate at the town hall affair, which completes the cycle of the book, throughout lesbian nation ms. Johnston maintains that "all women are les- bians except those who don't know It naturally they are but don't know tt yet..." (266) in the conclusion, she explains this stance by the changed definition of the word lesbian from a personal /sexual preference to

a political/revolutionary position, women are equal to each other, being of the same oppressed peer group 6 thus we must withdraw from men In all ways possible, especially sexually, to become truly independent & milit- ant: "It Is perhaps our mistrust of the man as the biological aggress- or which keeps bringing us back to the political necessity of power by peer grouping. Although we are still virtually powerless it is only by constantly adhering to this difficult principle of the power inherent in natural peers (men after all have dem- onstrated the success of this prin- ciple very well) that women will eventually achieve an autonomous existence." (279) this is the femin- ist solution; that is, the solution to the problem of the feminists still being subject to the oppressive male- dominated system by working within It instead of withdrawing from It & creating a new system to replace the one they reject, in this context ms. Johnston defines the lesbian as "the woman... who unites the personal and the political in the struggle to free ourselves from the oppressive instit- ution" (276) - this is her own admir- able achievement, blending her re- birth with writings evolving a pol- itical lesbian consciousness towards "the envisioned goal of a woman- committed state." (278) stylistically she shows her many creative geminlan facets from prosaic intellectual ex- patiation through witty punny rambl- ings, vid. this extract from page 263: "Weather this is true or knot the flak is that betweed you and the grape good life stands your landlord and your landau winch is off again hack- ing seized up according to John or mike and lennie or steve and kurtlnly one last bastid naked torn or cat

who keepsaklng over and omery about the motor It was just fight, just fight, and it wasn't", upon recon- sideration, basically jlll Johnston's latest book Is about having to re- construct our original myths & his- tory is about having to rebuild our- selves as woman and women Is about building the Lesbian Nations of the future.

Linda K Koch

simple & brief

Psychiatry and the Homosexual: A brief analysis of oppression. Gay Liberation pamphlet no. 1. Printed by F. I. Lltho Ltd. London, U. K. Available from Clad Day Books, 139 Seaton St., Toronto, Ont., MSA 2T2

1 his thirty-two page pamphlet is the by— product of an anti-psych- iatry group which formed at the time GLF London was perhaps at the forefront of the Gay Liberation Movement. It is written by a col- lective of men and thus concerns itself with psychiatry and the male homosexual.

The message of the pamphlet is sinqjle: gay men must liberate them- selves from the pretense that psych- iatrists are experts about their sex- uality. How can anyone with even just a cursory knowledge of homosex- psychiatry take exception? For those lacking even this background, perhaps this pamphlet could be an introduc- tion. It's straight-forward, free of professional jargon, and uncoin- promising in its rejection of psych- iatric oppression.

Herb Spiers

Page 12

The Body Politt

TT?E QK^ mQVZmZWr IHj

Jim Steakley

introduction

Xart of the oppression of gay people lies In the denial of our history. The veiled al- lusions. Isolated anecdotes, and embarrassed admissions which occasionally crop up in stan- dard works of history provide ample evidence of this mode of oppression, which functions by silence and distortion. We have come to accept and even to expect such treatment at the hands of straight historians; but for too long gays have simply accepted the values of straights and, with slight modifications, madi them their own. This process of identifying with the oppressor ex- plains such quasi-histor- ical surveys as Noel I. Garde's From Jonathan to Gide (New York, 1964J, which is little more than a compendium of (straight) claptrap made all the more repugnant by its attempt to vindicate homosexual- ity merely by pointing to great individuals. Brecht knew better: a curse on those who need heroes!

Few people have ser- iously tried to trans- form the available his- torical fragments Into a complete and coherent account of gay life in the past. Those who haven't dropped the task out of sheer frustration have usually added a heaping measure of fan- tasy and come up with historical fiction like Mary Renault's perennial bestsellers, those senti- mental novels set in an- cient Greece. Granted, the hundreds of plays, novels, and poems with gay theses published within the last century do provide us with cer- tain Insights into the thoughts and feelings of gay people — but only of gay people at the time they were written. (Two good studies that reflect this fact are Jeanette Foster's Sex Variant Wo- men in Literature [New York, 1958] and Timothy d'Arch Smith's Love in Earnest [London, 1970].) The relative abund- ance of fictional treatments of homosexuality no matter how skillfully written, by no means compensates for the paucity and inacessabil- ity of historical accounts. History, as Aristotle pointed out, has to relate what did happen, while fiction is allowed to relate something that might happen; fiction is uni- versal, history is particular.

By far the most substantial gay history which has appeared to date is H. Montgomery Hyde's The Other Love (London. 1970), which surveys homosexuality in England from Norman days to the present. Considerably less satis' fylng are two books from the United States:

Marvin Cutler's Homosextials Today (Los Angeles, 1956) and Don Teal's The Gay Milit- ants (New York, 1971). Both Cutler and Teal set out to describe the gay movement as they know It: Cutler, who was active in the West Coast gay movement from its start in 1950, reports on One, Inc. and Mattachlne as well as a niAmber of European gay organizations, while Teal, who labours under the Illusion that the gay liberation movement started with the Stonewall riot, confines his atten- tion to the developments from 1969 to 1971 In New York City. Both books offer extreme- ly detailed information as well as consider- able documentation, but neither succeeds In synthesizing the abundance of facts assembled. In Out 6£ the Closets (New York, 1972), Laud

Humphreys places the historical data from 1950 to 1972 In a sociological framework: and Dennis Altman, In Homosexual : Oppression and Liberation (New York, 1972), goes beyond names and dates to social and intellectual trends. Both surpass their predecessors in clarity of presentation and analysis.

The American books are, however, rather limited in scope, quite simply because the American gay movement Is such a recent phe- nomenon. The three books that were produced since Stonewall were obviously written under the impact of contemporary developments with- in the gay movement, and one cannot avoid the suspicion that opportunism lay behind their

rapid-fire appearance ( betray a distressing df (Teal especially) and, a depressing naivete, wall hysteria has subs: and a certain retrench: within the gay movemeni has come for broadenlnj the present by looking the past and beyond oui

a gay

ihe first modern sti was carried out in the homosexual named Karl 1 (1825-1895), who worker in the judicial system city of Hanover, At tl publishing his initial conclusions, Germany d: a nation: it was a looi separate political ent powers, among them the of Prussia and Bavaria reign of Ludwlg II, thi recent film). The onl; homosexuality was not ' offense was Bavaria, w\ from 1813) reflected Ei denying the state the ] ality. The other 24 pti homosexual acts as crii son sentences of varyii Ulrichs had someth: say about homosexualit; innocent , pre-Freudian was regarded not as a : and a crime. Challengli legal standpoint based will, Ulrichs asserted not 'choose' thelc orii gay, cannot change, an< He compared homosexual: a minority trait to be tagious nor evil; henc« and pointless to try ti change by legal or mor; ating by more than a ct today's liberal /consen Ulrichs vigorously cal] anti-homosexual legials vil rights for gay peop to marry. Implicit in I stance was the realizat of homosexuals arise sc ly accepting an author! instead of coming out a change society-

Ulrichs' activism v ahead of its time: the was unmoved, and alJ hi other gays to struggle failed totally. The one willing to accept from for themselves, to repl erast' and 'sodomite'. before and since, Ulric a land of unparalleled achievement and linked coexistence of homo- an Greek society. In Plato Identifies the patron g erotlcally attracted to Urania; from her name \j Uming for male homosex joyed wide use In the h of Germany, France (as

The Body Politic

QERrn?IHY

,c on Che market . They

degree of ethnocentrlsm :d, CO chls reader's mJnd, I. Now that the Stone- ibslded once and for all ichlng is taking place lenC, perhsps the cime ling our perspective on ng a bit furcher Into cur continent.

pioneer

study of homosexualicy ;he 1860*8 by a German •] Helnrlch Ulrichs ■ked as a civil servant ;eni of Che North German ; the Cime Ulrichs was .bl, truly revolutionary ' did not yet exist as .pose grouping of 25 intitles with sovereign '.hi: powerful kingdoms :ia (then under the tiie subject of Viscontl's irly state in which It treated as a criminal vhose law code (dating I -nlightenment thinking, w power to legislate mor- scaces all categorized :Time8, punishable by prl- r^ing lengths. (thing decisively new to .icy. Of course, in those .ail days, homosexuality f sickness but as a sin iglng Che entire medico— lEvl on morality and free ;td that homosexuals do irlentacion buc are born end shouldn't have to. lalicy Co lefc-handedness: be sure, but neither con- snce it is stupid, cruel, T to coerce homosexuals to loral pressures. AnCiclp- i century che demands of lervatlve gay organizations, sailed for che repeal of .Elation and for full cl- »e"ple, including the tight Lr his own, very public .ration that the problems i solely from their passive- icritarian socialization It and actively working to

m was unfortunately years :he legal establishment

- his attempts to mobilize Jle for their legal rights

One thing the gays were rem Ulrichs was a new name replace the current 'ped- s Like many homosexuals Lrichs admired Greece as 1*1 political and cultural t*l this to the peaceful

- ind heterosexuallty in ^'t^o's Symposium. Pausanlas M> goddess of men who feel

1 to other men as Aphrodite ■e Ulrichs coined che word ss'-xuals, a term that en- M homosexual subculcures (a** -uraniBte), and England

PKKT ORE: 1860-1910

(as Uranian) for che next fifty years. ("Ho- mosexual" itself was invented in 1869 by Che Hungarian doctor Benkert, and "invert" orig- inally appeared in French in 1882.)

Ulrichs' first two publications appeared under the pseudonym Numa Numantius; they were entitled Vindex and Inclusa (both Leipzig, 1864) and contained, respectively, soclo-legal and anthropological studies on homosexuality. In the following six years, Ulrichs dropped

in arms instead of art, the outcome of the war might have been quite different.) Only three years later, Prussia's decisive victory in the Franco-Prussian War led to the final Integration of the South German kingdoms. The Second Reich was proclaimed at Versailles In January, 1871. (The first had been the Holy Roman Empire, founded by Charlemagne in 800 and lasting until Napoleon's onslaught.) King Wilhelm of Prussia became che Kaiser of

The officers of che Scientific-Humanitarian Committee in 1904: Georg Plock (secretary), Dr. Ernst Burchard (director). Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (chairman), and Frelherr Hermann von Teschenberg (director), left to right.

the pseudonym and went on to print at his own expense eleven more polemical publications on homosexuality. The most Important of these is a two-volume work entitled Hemnon: The Sexual Nature of the Male Umlng (Schleiz, 1867-8), which set down Ulrichs' theories on human sex- uality. His concept of anlmus/anima foreshad- ows Jung's thinking and his classification of sexual variants anticipates Kinsey's 0-6 rating system. Ulrichs' ideas directly Inspir- ed Krafft-Ebing to undertake his Psychopathia sexualls (Stuttgart, 1887) and forced Freud to the concession that humans are polymorphous- perverse before che onset of socialization. Of course, none of Ulrichs' spiritualistic theories on homosexualicy hold much water nowadays — but then, neither do those of the four others just named. Ulrichs' work was. In any case, a sexological breakthrough In the eighteen-slxties and was taken most seriously by the German medical establishment for years after.

During the six-year period of Ulrichs' pioneering struggle, Germany was undergoing rapid changes in the economic and political spheres. German nationalism, which petty princes had barely been able to contain for several decades, was bursting to the surface; and the rising class of Industrial capitalists, already wealthier than their despotic rulers, were eager to see the fall of the last barr- iers to a free market economy in Germany, the internal tariffs and duties that were a rem- nant of feudalism. The Austro-Prusaian War (In which Bavaria sided with Austria) led to the establishment in 1867 of the North German Confederation. (Had Ludwig of Bavaria invested

Germany, but the real power resided with the chancellor. Otto von Bismarck. In line with Count Bismarck's autocratic and militaristic ideas about statesmanship and In keeping with Its tradltlonalistic trappings, the Second Reich was a rather stodgy regime; those who benefitted most were the capitalists, and in- dustry developed at a phenomenal rate in the following decades, enabling Germany to. join the ranks of Imperialistic powers.

In 1871 Prussia's strict criminal code was adopted as that of the Second Reich, and German homosexuals were suddenly placed in a new position vis-a-vis the law. Paragraph 175 imposed on homosexual acts ("lewd and unnat- ural behaviour") the penalty of imprisonment for one day to five years. {From 1871 straight through to che present day, the section of the German criminal code that deals with ho- mosexuality has been Paragraph 175, and 'hun- dred-seventy-fiver' has long been a standard German colloquialism for a gay male.) The law applied only to males: lesbianism was denied by silence.

The law was a setback for all gays and especially for Ulrichs, who now stood alone against che assembled might of che Prussian bureaucracy in Berlin, the Catholic Church (with its political arm, the Catholic Centre Party), and universal closetry on the part of German homosexuals. Ulrichs retreated from print for five years and the next book he ventured was something new — a collection of poecry on gay themes. Ulrichs waited aa~

Cont'd next page

The Bojy Politic

BERLIN CENSUS, MODEEUJ STYLE The Census-Taker: "How many children?" The Mother: "T«o daughters, one boy, one ur

homosexual intermediates." (This cartoon appeared In the Munich cultur lYouth] In 1905. The artist: Erich Milke. reaction: "Grotesque.")

Ing, and three

il weekly Ju^end Hirschfeld's

gay rights, for things were changing rapidly. In 1896 the first gay periodical appeared — in Berlin. It was to run until l-JS?. Entitled L'er Eigene (n marvelous pun suggesting 'self, 'same' [sex], and 'dif- ferent ' . rather like the French le particulinr') and edited by Adolf Brand, this lavish cult- ural magazine was de- signed to encourage gay consciousness and pride; its subtitle was "A

Jour CuUui

,al for Masculine , Art, and Liter-

ature." In the Sappho and Soci small study of homosex- uality by Dr. Magnus Htrschfeld, was published ed in Leipzig by the firm of Max Spohr. And on May 15, 1897, Brand, Spohr, and two other men met in Hirschfeld's Berlin apartment and founded the first acti- vist gay organization, the ineeensahaftlich- lumznit/lreB Komi. tee <ScienCific-Humanitarlan Committee). Spohr moved quickly to reprint Ulrlchs' works, and by 1899 had published twenty-three books on honiosexual 1 1 y (among then a few novels as well as a translation of Edward Carpenter's Homo- aenic Love in a Free Society (Manchester. 1896]). By 1900 the HHK had 70 members. Includ- ing a handful of les-

ither five years to Issue

I pamphlet entitled Critii

: Punishment of Uranian Love (Lelpiig,

1 polemic, 1 Arrows : Thoughts

1880). The following year Ulr the issue of gay rights at a convocation of German Jurists in Munich and was driven from the speaker's stand by its chairman. Privy Councillor of Justice von HHchter. Shortly after this incident he gave up the gay struggle altogether. At 56 he was phys- ically and psychically drained by years of single-handedly fighting for gay rights. Like many German gays before him — Winckel- mann and Platen are typical— Ulrichs made the Italian Journey, moving first to Nap- les and then, in 1883, to Aquila, an iso- lated, rocky town in the Southern Apennines. (For anyone familiar with this cultural tradition of southern exile, a special res- onance is added to Mann's Death In Venice. ) Ulrichs finished out his life in Aquila, producing a collection of short stories on gay themes and then editing a small, schol- arly periodical in classical Latin entit- led Alaudae (Larks) until his death in 1895.

Ulrichs was all but a forgotten man, but his memory was preserved by the one visitor he received in Aquila: John Addlng- ton Symonds (1840-1893). Symonds had hap- pened upon Ulrichs' writings and conceived the plan of trying a scholarly polemic on homosexuality himself; the two correspond- ed throughout 1891, and In October Symonds arrived for a two-day visit and discussion. Perhaps Symonds' description of the man Is worth quoting: at 66. Ulrichs was "a beautiful and dignified old man ... sweet, noble, a true gentleman and a r^n of genius. Be must have been at one time a man of sing- ular personal distinction, so finely cut are his features, and so grand are the lines of his skull." Two months after the visit Symonds published A Problem of Modem Ethics (DavoB. 1891) which contains an extensive resume of Ulrichs' thought. Through Symonds' collaboration with Havelock Ellis on the book Sexual Inversion (Watford. 1897), Ul- richs' ideas entered the English arsenal of pro-gajr literature (Carpenter, Burton) «e the saae tine that his works were being reprinted for the first tiae in Ccrvany.

the gay movement

rl«d he spent his last years In Germany. Ulrichs Bight well have found others will- ing to Join with htB in the struggle for

blans, but a serl tween Klrschfeld, the Ray culturist

rift was developing be- e scientist, and Brand, Brand finally quit the organization in 1902 and together with Bene- dict FriedlHnder, a writer, founded an ex- clusively male gay group, the Gemeinso^iaft der Eigenen (fommnctutS Pee Particuliere) One decade after Ulrlch's death, 320 publi- cations on homosexuality rolled off the presses of Germany in a single year, and the gay tnovement was well underway.

What had been Impossible for Ulrichs in the eighteen-sLxt ies finally happened in the nineties. But how can we explain this sudden appearance of a gay movement? (After all, it didn't fall from the sky.) To understand this phenomenon, we must briefly examine two fundamental changes that were taking place in Germany's social structure: industrialisation and urbaniza- tion.

When the Second Reich was established Germany was based on a rural, agrarian so- claT structure and lagged far behind the rest of Western Europe In industrial devel- opment. In the unique position of building from the ground up with the most advanced technology (whereas England chugged along with largely outmoded factories), the Ger- man economy boomed — a process that was aided by unchecked monopolization. The old Junker families, owners of huge agricul- tural estates, were eager to preserve the Status of the aristocracy and soon found It imperative to collaborate with the new upper class: bankers and Industrialists. No longer bound to the land and rendered Increasingly superfluous by the mechaniza- tion of agriculture, the German peasantry migrated to the burgeoning centers of In- dusti^ to find work. As the number of large concerns grew, owners of small businesses were forced off the market and merged with the army of civil servants and employees of every stripe to make up the new middle

The population of Germany's metropol- itan centres — Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and the Ruhr region — quadrupled within three decades, and catastrophic social conditions were the result. Chronic housing shortage, unenployment, alcoholism, venereal disease, police terrorism, social unrest: these were the problens faced by the new urbanitcs. The cry "Back to the landl" was heard everywhere (not for the first or the last time In our age), and another escape-valve was anci-Sealtlsa: both points of view were Irrational and aggressively naclonal- iatlc. And, of course, with the growth of

large cities cane the development of a gsy subculture. The police of Berlin (then as now Germany's largest city) had tolerated gay bars as far back as the eighteenth century. By 1895, with a population rap- idly approaching two and a half million, Berlin boasted some 40 gay bars as well as one to two thousand hustlers (a po- lice estimate), and drag balls were re- gularly advertised in the straight press.

The customers of both the gay bars and the hustlers were dravn from the new urban middle class, whose standard of living rose sharply during the ".riin.^er- jahre ('Founders' Years,' 1871-73). The ■ hustlers themselves were usually worlting- class youths, seeking to supplement their earnings or simply out of work. This re- flects the fact that the income of German workers had scarcely changed since the sixties; and the industrial worker's living conditions were actually far worse than those of his parents on the farm. The struggle to ameliorate the situation of the workers was taken up by the growing labour union movement, which was led by the Social-Democratic Morklngmens' Party. Founded in 1669 by August Bebel and Karl Liebknechl, this party had a program ba- sed on the ideas of Marx and Engels; and from 1897 (when Bebel was approached by the WHK) to the present, tt has been the one German political parCy which has con- sistently supported gay rights.

After 1875. the pace of industrial growth slackened off, and it was the het- erogeneous middle class whose status was most Inmediately threatened by this change. As the optimism of the Grunderjahre faded, middle-class Germans were finally caught short by Che squalor and vlclousness of life all around them; but the government was firmly in the hands of the Junkers and industrialists, and the middle-class lacked the leadership necessary to have any Impact on national politics. The middle-class German was (understandably) afraid of sinking to the level of a mere labourer, and he rejected socialism as Internationallstic and as a mass move- ment. At the same time he resentfully rejected capitalism as un-German, as a Jewish Import from England; and he cherished feelings of moral superiority toward the upper class. Between the scylla and charbydls of soclaliscn and capitaliem, the middle class hit upon reform as the only practicable solution CO the urgent social problems.

Starting around 1890, various peo- ple stepped forward to fill the leader- ship vacuum within the amorphous middle class and to demand reforms of the most diverse kinds. Their primary aim was to obtain basic human rights not guaranteed by the constitution of 1671; but because few of the reformers questioned the over- all political and economic system of Ger- many, their reforms were aimed not toward a real liberation of all the oppressed, but only coward a humane moderation of the most obvious social Ills.

Thus, the elghteen-nlnetles saw the rise of the women's movement (Frauetibi!- uegung). (Before women themselves took the leadership In this struggle, male Social Democrats had concerned themselves with the Issue: August Bebel's Motiian Under Socialism, first published In 1883, shows a charming Victorian condescension.) This movement demanded equal rights for women in private and public life including educational opportunity and sought legal reform in the areas of marriage and di- vorce laws, abortion, and the status of illegitimate children. The horrendous health conditions In the cities were at- tacked by the natural health movement U/atiir'ieilfteUMwig) which educated work- ing-class city dwellers about basic hy- giene while building spas and sanatoria In the countryside for middle-class ur- banites. (One such resort is the setting of Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain). The land reform movement (L-indr^foimhe- :Jegung) attempted to bring about a gen- eral redistribution of farmlands in Ger- many but was stymied by the Junkers. In all of these movements, the German Biirgtr was struggling to make reforms chat the French bougeolste had achieved a century

These sensible and much— needed re- forms were, however, accompanied by a wave of other reform movenenta which CUK CO be known collectively as the Life Re- form Kovemeat (l^btinarefor^beiM^ur^) . Most of these desired 'reforms' were so peculiar and politically trivial that their

ootlvAtlon is nuch aare difficult to grasp, rhiis, the frustrated land reform Bovoncnt turned to advocating a return to feudal land distribution In particular and ncdi- «vj1 Isa in gencritl. This movenvnt vas Joined by a vegetable garden ntnvemcnt r__-/jv;vryarr.--\;c-vV;..if^.,', which success- fully piishad for pock«t-8iied plots of land where the city-dweller could spend his leisure hours. The necessity for nu- tritional reform {i'rr^iir^r^gi\ j'- ;""/ was generally accepted among talddle-class nercuna, leading to wlde-ipread vegetar- Ijnisoi and organic gardeninK; some people even advocated diets of exclusively raw foods or whole grains .ind nuts. (In Cer- many today, there is a chain of about 700 so-called RefomliJuaer, grocery stores which sell only organic foods). Clothing reform I'KleCderi-efomJ was the ral lying- cry of thousands of others who wore a loose tunic when they had to, and prac- tised nudity (FreikorpcrkuLf.ii') whenever possible. Suraerous quasi-religious move- ments appeared, pushing monism, theosophy, .inthroposophy, various (Oriental religions, and meditation, A powerful youth movement ti'uj^ndbeL'eguag) led to the building of dozens of hostels, and soon had tens of thousands of middle-class youngsters in peasant garb backpacking all over Germany. (This reovetnent will be treated in Part 2.) Finally, advocates of all these 'reforms' began to establish uomtnunes in whioh they could live with like-minded people.

By rejecting capitalism and sociallsin, the German middle class had become a kind of Ideological proving ground for a wide range of promises of salvation; there was something for everyone and reformism in everything. The ideological underpinnings nf the various reform movements can, how- ever, be roughly divided into three cate- gories: a medical-hygienic cure for social ills, a socio-political critique of exis- ting conditions, and a i,icltiji^a''iaiil;cl\- rellglous approach to life. The reform movements were one and all activlstlc. Is obvious that the tendency (

viti.

lally to t

social

problems while others were more or less escapist. The movements provided a wide arrjy of leaders — many of them charls- Diaclc Individuals — for the politically leiiderless middle class; these leaders were uBujlly highly educated and often academics — the highest status the middle class could achieve. This is the background a- gjlnst which we must view the German g>iy movement.

Magnus Hirschfeld C1868-193ii) was the first chairman of the MHK and dlrecCiid its activities from 1897 to the nineteen twen- ties. The son of a doctor, he enjoyed the ndv.intages of a middle-class upbringing and studied medicine himself, then served -1 stint in the army, made a grand world tour, and headed a sanatorium in Magdeburg before entering the public health service .ind opening a private practice in Charlot- tenburg, a posh suburb of Berlin, in 1896. Hirschfeld's early interest in alcoholism (a subject on which he wrote two books) 'lulckly gave way to an interest in human sexuality. In 1900 he was named to a unlv- ersltv professorship for sexology and he cine to be widely regarded as Germany's Icjding expert on homosexuality. Hirsch- feld was first and foremost a scientist; his personal motto, which he was fond of quoting, was .^-ri- acifntidm ad .'■tstitia'^ C^"^om scientific knowledge to Justice). His academic titles lent him an aura of respectability and authority that were a prerequisite for his leadership in the gay ei»ivement; but due to the anti-Semitism of the Ccrmjn middle class, the fact that he was .1 Jew worked both to his disadvantage jnd the organization's. The furthest thing from his mind was mobilizing a 'mass' nove- nenc ot gay people, which he would have regarded as vulgar, and although the mem- btrship of the WIK grew steadily, Hirsch- Icld hlmaeU carried out the burden of the organization's work during its first four vejrs while Max Spohr (1850-1905) served IS unofficial secretary. Hirschfeld had. In frtct. only a secondary talent for or- ii;.inlzing; Indeed, his passion lor scient- ific truth led htm Into major tactical blunders as j nny leader.

Hirschfeld was deeply convinced of the lundmental lnju«ilce of Paragraph 175 of the crUlnal code and blamed thU law for ptoihjtlng widespread blaclnall of honosex- „ait. He realized further that the antl- K<>y sentiaent reflected in the law was rc- kp>in«lbl<! for a tendencv itrward alcoholism iind the high suicide rate aoong liososexuals ,

Hirschfeld's goal was legal reform, and the first -nrtlon of the WHi: was the printing of a tbtee-pnge petition which outlined the scientific and hunanitarlan reasons for amending Caragr.iph 175 so as to place homo- sexual acts on .< leital par witli heterosexual acts. Hirschfeld was not interested in having just anybody sign the , petition: he sought out the signatures of mem- bers of the medical and legal professions, edu-

atori

clcrici

and

members of the German cultural elite. A number of influential and very closeted homosexuals sym- pathized and firmly re- fused to sign; but llirsct feld succeeded in coll- ecting about 900 signat- ures within a few mootlis and presented the peti- tion to the Reichstag, confident that Paragraph

I",

'who!

xlste

smirches the escutcheon of German Justice, will not be carried Into the new century."

A parliamentary com- mittee took up consider- ation of the petition in

Januarv of 1898, and the (This cartoon,

WHi: received a firm re- known j

buff. The only MPs who jod Schille

supported the proposed reform were Social Democrats, ted by Aug- ust Bebel; the representatives of the mid- dle- and upper-class parties (with the ex- ception of a single tlational Liberal) ex- pressed astonishment and outrage at the petition. Hirschfeld regarded It as suc- cess of sorts that he was personally re- ceived by Secretary of State Mieberding, head of the Reich Office of Justice, who gave hla a few words of advice: "The gov- ernment's hands are tied until the people know that your demands are a matter of ethics and not just some sexual or scient- ific uhim. You've got to change public op- inion so that they'll understand what's happening if the government does away with this paragraph." Hirschfeld's faith in the ultimate benevolence of the government and the petition's usefulness was restored, and the WlIK continued to gather signatures. By 1914 it had become a list of more than 3000 doctors, 750 university professors, and hundreds of jurists, writers, military officers, and journalists. The list reads like a 'Who's Who in Germany.' hut select- ing names known to anglophones reduces it enormously: among the first signers of the petition were Gerhart Hauptmann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and (the name that meant most to Hirschfeld) Richard von Kraf f t-FIblng; they were later Joined by Albert Einstein, Karl Jaspers, Martin Buber, Lou Andrea- Salome, Herman Hesse, and Thomas Mann. Af- ter its setback in the Reichstag, the HHK turned to a new tactic to carry on the struggle for gay rights: publications. By 1905, the Committee had distributed 30,000 copies of a small brochure entitled "What Should the People Know About the Third Sex?" fly 1914, the WHK had mailed to lit- erally every jurist, doctor, journalist, cleric, educator, and goverment agency in Germany a copy of another, more sophistic- ated booklet, which was also distributed to the friends or relatives of any gay person who requested it; 100,000 copies of this booklet were printed. Heedless to say, Hirschfeld was singled out and vicious- ly denounced for propagandizing perversity by that part of che German press which was anti-Semitic; but he won accolades In other sections of the press and the work of the HHK became widely known.

Hirschfeld himself was far more devoted CO a publication of a very different nature. In 1899 the first volume of the ■■cihrbuch fw sexuelle ^^---ach^'-^nufer. (Yearbook for Intersexual Variants) was published. This scholarly journal appeared until 1923 under Hirschfeld's editorship. Its articles rnng- ed over medical, legal, anthropological, and historical aspects of homosexuality; it also contained reports on the Connlttee's activities and complete annual bibliogra- phies and occasional reviews of fictional and non-fictional publications. In his pre-

PANIC IN WEIMAR ;■' ol mv hjndl Here comes ^tagnus Hirschfeli rom a 1907 issue of Jtigcid, shows a well- Ucimar of Germany's classic poets, Goethe Wei5£erber.)

Art

face to Volume One Hirschfeld stated tli.n the 'Uihi-buah was primarily intended for .i re^idershlp of doctors and jurists but liIso olloued that "homosexual men and women them- selves" would find It of Interest because their "human rights, duties, and special interests" would receive "the most scrup- ulous attention and consideration" In its pages. The appeal of the -ialirbuch was in fact very limited: In 1903 (that year's issue ran to over 1300 pages) there were only 70 subscribers.

The term 'Intersexual variant' doubt- less strikes the contemporary reader as rather bizarre, and the idea of a 'third sex' may seem downright laughable, so a resume of Hirschfeld's theory of human sex- uality is in order. Hirschfeld shared with Ulrlchs the conviction that homosexuals do not choose their orientation but Instead are born gay; but he finnly rejected Ulrichs' notion that the homosexual is an individual with a female soul In a male body (or vice versa). Hirschfeld had also to come to terms with Kraf ft-Ebing. who had suggested that homosexuality is sometimes inborn (a symp- tom of degeneration) and sometimes acquired (a result of masturbation). As a scientist, Hirschfeld was certain that there was some simple physiological reason for homosexual- ity, and he pointed to the existence of hermaphrodites — Individuals with the phy- sical characteristics of both sexes — as proof chat nature constantly produces hu- mans who defy categorization by gender. (Hirschfeld's close collaborator on this subject was Dr. Franz von Neugebaucr of Warsaw, who published documentary material on more than 2000 hermaphrodites in the ^'jlivbuch. ) Bisexuals, to Hirschfeld's mind, were also Intermediate types who lacked the external characteristics of both sexea. In ten books and numerous articles on hotmscx- uallty, which culminated in his Homosexual- ity of Men and Women (Berlin, 1914), Hirsch- feld arrived at the hypothesis that there are two - male and female - chemical sub- stances which determine gender and sexual orientation and that both are present In the body in varying ratios, resulting In a continuum of sexual types. Sex hormonen were finally isolated and Identified In 1933. one year after Hirschfeld's death; and the field of sex-hormone research Is still rid- dled with problans (cf. H. Spiers' review of Money and Ehrhardt's Man 6 Woman, Boy i Cirl IBaltlmore, 1973] elsewhere In this Issue). But In his time, Hirschfeld com- pletely won Krafft-Elitng over \o a non- pathological aaseasncnt of hottosexuallty and his theories also Influenced Slgmund Freud and Alfred Adler, who both published articles In mrsehfcld's ZeiTeL'hr{ft fih^ S.-.xuiilij- encnschifr (Journal of Sexology) in 1908.

Two further aapotts of HlrschfcUV

The Body Politic

research deserve brief nenClon. Ulclchs invented the term iri^'y; Htrschfeld moat be credited with coining Che word 'trans- vestlte.' In his Transvestltes: A Study of ilrotic DlsKulae (Berlin. 1910). he* pointed out that nost cross-dressers are heterosexual and categorized the group as another intersexual variant; Hlrschfeld himself enjoyed slipping Into drag now and .igain. Until Hlrschfeld's tine, no flro figures on the percentage of homosexuals In the overall population were available, for the aethods of statistics were still In a foruatlve stage. The WHK petition had, however, called attention to the fact th^t the number of hooosexuals was so high that Paragraph 175 could not be enforced: I. erman, prisons would be filled to overflow- ing. The Committee distributed 6600 ques- tionnaires to Berlin students and factory workers In 1903, and the results were pub- lished In a brochure the following year: 2.2t of tlie population was homosexual — 1.200,000 Cermans in all. Hlrschfeld: "These high figures will surely astonish many people and I admit that 1 myself would have been surprised by them eight years ago, when the suicide of one of my patients iz.iused me to turn to the study of inter- eexual variants. Today I an acquainted uiCh the lives and activities of many hun- dreds of homosexuals and the figures no longer surprise me. I have observed all too often the skill, zeal, and success with which homosexuals manage to conceal their

orientation them, their

ven fr- elatlvi

I tbos. and friei

the secessionists

M.,

'lagnus Kirschfeld's leadership of the gay movement did not go unchallenged. In 1902 he uds advised by August Bebel chat a change of tactics was needed: humanitar- ian appeals to the government were point- less, and scientific proofs of the normalcy of homosexuality made sense only to other scientists. Bebel suggested that the WHK publicize several clearcuc, ongoing court ■s and in effect embarrass the govern- : Into law reform. (Ac chat time between and three hundred men were sent to pri- for violating Paragraph 175 yearly,) ichfeld decided against this tactic and Adolf Brand, one of the co-founders of the WIIK, resigned In protest. Bebel's advice seemed good to him, and he had access to print through his own gay journal, D^r Fi- -j.'ne, as well as a liberal weekly, f'ie Welt an l-ionta.j. And Brand was willing to create court cases if necessary. On May I, 1902, he founded the J&^einechaft def Eigenen to- gether with Benedict Friediander.

Brand's organieatlon never succeeded in matching the impact of the WHK and his hopes for a 'radical' gay movement were never fulfilled. While Hlrschfeld was clearly the sole spokesman for the WHK, the GDE produced a contradictory clamour of voices. A scientific -and 'non-politi- cal' stance came naturally to Hlrschfeld, who wanted no more than Integration into the status quo; Brand advocated anarchy and his own following fell into chaos. Brand succeeded In creating scandals, but thev usually worked to discredit him. In 1908 Brand served a jail term for libel (he had stated in print that Chancellor von BUIow was a homosexual) and his closest co-worker, FciedlHnder, committed suicide. These two events sobered his judgment con- siderably, and although the GDE and Der Bi~ jer£' existed into the twenties Brand solemn- ly declared his personal allegiance to Hlrschfeld and the scientific-humanitarian approach.

In 1902, however. Brand distinguished Che GDE from the HHK in these terms: "We shall make no effort to arouse the pity of the government or the people's representa- tives by the scientific proof of a supposed anomaly; this would be an unmanly way to ..tlaln the repeal of the law which threatens us." The idea of manliness was a constant thudie in the writings of the COE, which called upon the state to support separate »nKcullne and feminine cultures In which homosexual love-relationships would fonr 4n alternative to marriage; but these sep- arate cultures were eventually to merge Into a harvonloua seyual culture In which "(he tefinemcnc of sexual gratification" would be the <1» o( life. 'Manly' and 'woMiinty' vcre clearly ayBtlcal gender qu4lltlea, sdacullnlty being strength, »tg'«»»lvenMB, and rationality, while fcttlninity was grace, coopcr.-t ivercsr ,

and the aesthetic impulse. The goal of mankind. Brand maintained, was the balance ing of both aspects in each individual; blsextidllty was his ideal, and he regarded both hetero- and homosexuals as weaklings (KHmerlirige) .

The GDE looked to classical Greece as a model civilization In which an equili- brium between masculinity and femininity had been achieved, and Brand contrasted his journal with liirschf eld's by saying that he wanted to show "more the Hellenic side of things." In The Renaissance of Eros I'ranlos (Berlin, 190i), FriedlHnder set down a complete account of the group's views on Greek love and the necessity for its re-emergence in modern times. The GDE also admired the Middle Ages prior to the onset cf llaryolog> , and the title of Eduard von Mayer's The Modern Middle Arcs (Berlin, 1905) was programm.T t Ic for the organization. Its men-bers avoided the use of standard words for 'gayness' and used the term lieblingBrr.irme (literally darling- love); "linne is a medieval German word for

Erand looked upon the struggle of the wtmen's movement favorably, for he saw in it che potential for an autonoinouF feminine culture. There were no comparable movements anong straight icen in Geripany, and the WHK struck hiir. as culturally conservative. Brand therefore claimed for his organiza- tion the right to lead the struggle for gay liberation and ultimately the liberation ot all men. FriedlSnder had not quit the WUK with Brand and was a meirber of both organizations until Hlrschfeld forced him to resign In 1907. FrledlSnder was increas- ingly losing touch with reality, and a week before his death he wrote "Seven Theses on Homosexuality." One thesis read thus: "The

cial ,

jmpti.

< is

our enemy. Behind this presumption one often finds the wiles of priests or some other caste of cheats, who make sly use of these gullible creatures with such smal and simple brains." The antl-f emintst, anti-clerical content of this garbled statement reveals the deepest Ideological roots of the Gemeinsaiinft dt'r Ei^aen,

the royal scandal

De,

'esplte the challenge from Brand and Internal difficulties with FrledlHnder, the HHK had made enormous strides In educating t1 public about the 'third sex.' The cartoons on che two preceding pages Indicate the pub- lic's awareness of Hlrschfeld himself and hi: theories of sexuality, an awareness which he he brought about by publications and lecture: In the major cities of Germany. And then, Hlrschfeld noted. It was just In the mvth of the ancients — . massive boulder slowly pushed hill plunged back down agali

:he

of the middle and lower classes.

The masses chat the Comalttee had tried with some Success to reach became adamantlv self-righteous and anti-gay. In an amazing tactical blunder, Hlrschfeld allowed hlnsclf to be called Into court to give expert teatl- mony as to the possible homosexuallcv of Count Kuno von Holtke, adjutant to the Kalse' and mayor of Berlin. Hlrschfeld gave his honest, sclenclfic opinion; 'tolcte was gav. Hlrschfeld's appearance in court and his readiness to make such a damaging statement terrified manv of the regular contributors to the WHK — thev were (perhaps tustlflablv) afraid that Hlrschfeld might someday give court testimony against them.

Instead of pulling together in the face of a shared danger, the middle-class member- ship of the WHK began to melt away; and lacking contributions from upper-class homosexuals the organisation was in flnancla trouble for the first time since its found- ing. Hlrschfeld, now busy making the rounds from one courtroom to another, could not believe that he was doing anything wrong; after all, from knowledge to justice. It would he years before the IfflU would regain the strength it had enjoyed before the royal scandal.

To Come:

TJiiB ie the first of a threa- part eemea on thf ja." niovement

Part II

—will trnat the fJeman Youth flouement (in particular the Fpge German Youth, which tiae openlii gay); the relationship of the gau movement to the Coimuniitt farty in Gevruny; the gai pf^riodi cale and organizations of the taentias; the Hast wiea af liompscjrtiaHtu, the rnurder of Ernet '^^'t-, : ' ■;; concentration cajnii?.

Part III

— ii)ill deal unth the tt-gal a'ui social situation of ho'^oeexuale in the poBt-war period both in East and West Cerminy a>id diacuaa t)Te various branches of the aont^n- porary gay liberation mbvement in West Germany,

The (

cllne V

iltcei

I de-

tries of trial hearings, and suicides chat invol- ved the ruling class itself.

Kaiser Uilhelm II was never a popular roler — he was too dis- tant from the people, coo secre- tive and withdrawn. The middle class kept a strong feeling of loyalty toward the Kaiser but the workers and leftists thought that che time had come for real demo- cracy. In 1907 Maximilian Harden, editor of the leftist newsweekly Die Zukunft (The Future), began to publish attacks on the Kaiser's old friend and closest advisor. Prince Philip zu Eulenburg; In so doing he meant to damage the Kaiser himself. The attacks grew in sharpness until Harden finally

ed Eulenburg of

moralil

vice!

Suddenly all the German newspapers were full of the story, and it dominated their headlines for years: an anti-homosexual witch- hunt of unparalleled proportions was unleashed. S'early every high government official and military officer was suspected or accused of being homosexual. (It was at this point chat Adolf Brand made the mistake of charging the chan- cellor with homosexuality.) The result was a flurry of resigna- tions and sudden departures from Germany on che pare of upper-class homosexuals; che situation was '.Ittle better for h<:«ioiieKu3lB

V'-^^

GAY HISTORV 1907 pp 13 16

NEW PRUSSIAN COAT OF ARMS (The figure on the left Is Hllhelo II, on the right- identified bv hU embroidered handkerchief — "PhlU" Eulenburg. The scroll at the bottom reads "Mv sweetie mv little snookums, my one and onlv cuddlv he.ir." ''roi Jujtnd, 1907. Artist: A, Welsgerber.)

The Body Polttlc

A MORE AGGRESSIVE STANCE

gays in manitoba

Greg Bourgeois & Bob Wallace

Greg Bouvgeoia ie active in Gays for Equality^ Winnipeg. Bob Wallacet a for- mer Body Politic collective member^ has returned to Winnipeg emd GFE after re- ceiving an MA in Canadian history from the University of Toronto.

Winnipeg's Gays for Equality (GFE) was founded in February 1972 by Pbil Graham, a university stud- ent from Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is typical of the Winnipeg gay scene that its liberation group should be founded by an out-of-cow- ner. What little there is of this city's gay connaunlty clings to the view that there is nothing that can be done to Improve its lot. Gays have adopted a fatalistic acceptance of existing conditions.

In spite of this, considerable interest was generated in the new group, particularly after it spon- sored Jack Baker's highly success- ful speaking engagement at the Uni- versity of Manitoba. Unfortunately, this initial enthusiasm waned. The club sought to provide a place for meaningful dialogue and conscious- ness raising among gays, ^ and to fight against the oppression of gays in Manitoba, but in both of these objectives, the group failed, largely because there was a basic mistrust within the group. Similarly, talk of zapping bars meant little to people who felt that just attending the meeting was revolutionary enough for them or who were merely interest- ed in making GFE (Chen the Campus Gay Club) an extension of the downtown social scene.

By November of 1972, few members were still attending meetings and the organization was In danger of folding. In response to this, the club assumed a more aggressive stance in order to save itself. At this time we had only one member who was out of the closet, so the Initiative was forced upon those who had not done this type of work before.

The group's main activities are political, but we have also organized a week-end drop-in centre where gays and straights may mix in a non- crulsey, non-exploitative atmosphere. We have increased our regular member- ship to about 20, and one of the central reasons for our expansion was the guest appearance at the Uni- versity of Manitoba this winter, of Pat Murphy, former vice-president of CHAT.

the election

In May of this year, Premier Ed Schreyer called an election in Manitoba. Given this opportunity to assert itself and to bring its existence to the attention of both the electorate and politicians, GFE followed the precedents established elsewhere. Its members set with can- didates privately and further con- fronted them at nubile meetinss. Like all Oay Liberation groups, GFE was Interested In discerning the extent to which prospective MLA's

were willing to support our demands for socio-political equality.

There was a more compelling rationale behind GFE*s reaction to Premier Schreyer's election announce- ment. Despite the willingness of westerners to experiment in styles and forms of government, there has always been a clearly discernible end. The history of Prairie reform has in large part been a search for religious and moral purity. Admit- tedly, the present has seen the sec- ularization of this evangelical zeal, but the harbingers of the Earthly Kingdom of God still have their dis- ciples. Consider, for instance, the vehement righteousness of Manitoba's Joe Borowski; the Attorney General's seizure of Last Tango in Paris; or the Government's persistent refusal to grant a series of local gay social clubs non profit charters.

Since this was the social and Intellectual climate in which GFE was bom, it was essential that the organization force upon the public an awareness that homosexuals were no longer willing to acquiesce to moral dictates issuing from the past. With the assertion of the organiza- tion's presence, it was also hoped that the public would begin to re- examine its attitudes and values and in so doing, to recognize the legit- imacy of the homosexual's claim to hiaan equality

In part, GFB's election campaign met these objectives. Press coverage albeit limited, was fair and honest, and in some constituencies, the fav- ourable response of a candidate evoked considerable applause. How- ever, it is necessary to note here that the organization's bid for pub- lic recognition did not win the ap- proval of the entire gay community. With the Government's persistent re- fusal to incorporate "Happenings", the latest social club to apply for a charter, GFE was provided with a concrete issue, one which had impor- tant ramifications for every homo- sexual in Manitoba. Justifying his refusal to grant the charter months earlier, the province's Attorney General had argued that "such [gay] groups ought not to be clothed with the same rights and respectability as other groups." Although GFE offered its co-operation should the club wish to fight the decision, "Happenings" reacted timidly to the Attorney General's announcement, and insisted that the issue be hid- den from the public view. They feared that it would jeopardize any future attempt to receive govern- ment incorporation.

In a letter directed to Attor- ney General, Al Hackling, the club's executive stated that it regarded GFE's use of the issue at public meetings (without mentioning the club's name) with "great alarm" and disassociated itself entirely from GFE. With this correspondence, the split between the two organ- izations widened. Nevertheless, the "Happenings" letter was rend- ered ineffective in light of GFE's attempts to meet their demand for self-concealnent, and the clash can

be seen as not only inevitable but also as essential to the survival of gay liberation as a viable force in Manitoba.

Of more immediate interest, however is the GFE campaign itself. Through attending all candidates meetings representing 14 constituen- cies and through questioning 13 can- didates personally, GFE succeeded in obtaining some indication of party stands. Of the conservatives, little can be said: candidates either refused to commit themselves or else assented to statements made by their opponents. The results clearly indicate that the PC slogan "Freedom of Choice and Opportunity Now" applied to big business only.

More interestiog were the Lib- eral responses. Having based their campaign upon "popular" fears of the "socialist hordes" the Liberal party adopted for its slogan the rhetorical question, "State Control or Self-Control?" and most of those confronted, including Liberal lead- er Izzy Asper, had to acknowledge Our right to protection un9er the Human rights Act. Charles Hubard (River Heights - Wpg.) President of the Manitoba Civil Liberties Union, issued the strongest defence of homosexual rights. In future attempts at achieving protective legislation, his support could prove to be very significant.

Unlike the two other parties the NDP did not respond with any degree of solidarity. Candidates such as Iwan (Assinlboia - Wpg.) and Frlesen (Ft. Rouge - Wpg.) iss- ued statements strongly in support of gay rights, but unfortunately both failed in their bid for election Of the remaining candidates consid- ered, most were sympathetic although three were strqpgly hostile towards homosexuals: Lewicky (Sturgeon Creek - Wpg.) Turnbull (Osborne - Wpg.) and Russel Doern. Although Lewicky was defeated, both other candidates were elected and given cabinet portfolios.

Despite the negative stance taken by these NDP candidates, it is important to remember that few who condemned homosexuality were elected to the legislature. In par- ticular, the defeat of the province's Attorney General, known for his mor- alistic zeal, gives GFE some grounds for hope. This is especially true since the probable successor to his post, Murdock Mackay (presently deadlocked with Asper in an elec- toral tie) had issued a positive public statement when pressed by GFE members .

Although the NDP remains an urban based party, almost one half of its representatives are from small town, northern or rural con- stituencies. Consequently, GFE must determine the extent of opposition among MLA's from these regions be* fore acting. To this end, the or- ganization intends to forward ques- tionnaires to all elected candidates in the near future.

cuntd page 12

Page

The Body Politic

A couple of nights ago, a good friend and I were lying together in an incredible post-coital glow, sharing a joint. Listening to the radio, it was CHUM-FM's "music-to-fuck-by" program. The music was sweet and easy flowing

- some dude was singing about the lady- he loved - nice stuff, good to hear, it's always good to hear about love.

But, somehow his song left me feel- ing vaguely dissatisfied. All my life I have heard men singing about their love for women but I just don't hear men singing about their love for men.

Oh, I've hear love songs to men

- but they were sung by women. And there have been the gay songs like "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" that use "you" instead of "him". But when

I am loving a guy, it's two males to- gether - not a male and a psuedo-female. And when I love a guy, I tell him I love him - not 1 think he's a good buddy. In short I want to be real and I want to be positive. Rock gets into me because it expresses in music things that are part of me. I'd like the music I listen to to express my gayness as honestly as other things in my life do. I can read about gay love, I can see movies about gay love, I can talk to my family about gay love, Christ, I can even watch Marcus Welby, AC/DC and Owen Marshall about gay love. But up till now, I can't listen to music about gay love.

Oh Lord, it's hard being a fag any- way. Can't I please have some sweet music to soothe my soul. I don't want a shrink, I just want a good gay rock 'n roll band.

"I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still.., Yeah he looks so fine^ Yeah I'm gonna make him mine." DA POO RON RON as sung by Ian Matthews on Tigers Will Survive,

Gay rock's on the way, but you knoii it sort of pisses me off how it's going to happen. If we take a quick look at homosexuality in movies, you'll see what I mean. The first movie that I ever saw that dealt with homosexuality was "Tea and SympatJuf", In that, the boy everyone thought was gay really wasn't - he was just sensitive. Well, I know a lot of straight guys who are very sensitive but that kid was a clo- set case if ever I saw one. The point was that he was meant to be identified with by the audience so that they could go home thinking: "Well^ i too can he sensitive without being no fuakin' queer". You have to be pretty stupid to think that gay people have a mon- opoly on sensitivity. Or insensitivity. Then, in the sixties, came things like Lawrence of Arabia and Who's Afraid of

Virginia Woolf alid others in which only those who knew, knew. Finally, we came to the period of Boys in the Band, Sun- day, Bloody Sunday, and The Music Lov- ers. In these, everybody knows, but you sure wouldn't want your lover to be that fucked-up.

At least, we avoided something like "Gidget Goes Gay"^ but there has never been anything that your ordinary run-of-the-mill cocksucker (like me) can relate to as being valid.

Now, what's happening in rock? Alice Cooper is the successor to gen- erations of small-town drag queens. David Bowie "smileB sadly for a love I could not obey", Lou Reed wants us all to "jtialk on the wild aide" and Cat Stevens is very sensitive.

Yes, I'm complaining and yet I'm not complaining too hard. All the mov- ies I have mentioned were good movies, very good movies, and they helped us

Just vfant a good gay

Warren Hague

rock band

all a lot in understanding others and ourselves. They are distortions like the distortions in an antique mirror. Very interesting, those distortions.

All the musicians I've mentioned are very fine musicians. Cooper, Bowie and Reed are top sellers and the best- known in that vague thing called "gay rock". What they have in common is that they are outrageous, theatrical, funky and very sexual. The ability to be gloriously sexual seems to be a peculiarly gay thing. For males anyway. The nearest thing I can think of in a straight male musician was Elvis Pres- ley wiggling his ass on Ed Sullivan, That's a bit too macho for most of us these days. Which leads me to the why of gay rock.

Rock seems to reflect social change and changes the thing it reflects. Mu- sic has a profound effect on our cult- ural attitudes. We all know how strong is the connection between music and sexuality. For the past fifteen or so years we have been living in a "sexual revolution". Young people are thinking of sexual experimentation, non-stereo- typed roles, non-institutionalized relationships and sexual freedom. For heterosexuals, the conditions which allow them to begin to work towards

sexual freedom and integrity in rela- tionships has been brought about by two main factors, both inter-related. Effective birth control methods, es- pecially The Pill, and the growing con- sciousness of women. Homosexuals have had a head start in this direction for obvious reasons. But let me hit you over the head with a couple of hammers.

Traditionally, a woman was supposed to be a virgin when she got married and faithful thereafter. Most of the time she wouldn't even know if she was get- ting what she should, sexually. And, if she thought she wasn't, what was she going to do about it? Men were less constricted - there always was a double standard. However, those of us who grew up in the fifties will remember our "masculinity crisis"; our agonies over our inabilities to live up to the standards expected of us. Of course, it's much better now but these inhib- itions, fears and oppressions are still with us.

All of us, straight and gay, have gone through the same shit but gays have had to throw off all the chains at once In order to gain any sort of personal integrity. Coming out re- quires a great act of personal courage and the doing of it invests that person

The Body Politic

with something. I think this is the ability to be sexual without being self- conscious or oppressive. It is difficult to express the joy I felt when I first came out. I felt exhuberantly me. I felt beautiful and I loved everybody, even my enemies. (Shades of Our Saviour) Later, when I was living in London, this sense of freedom enabled me to shed my North American freak uniform of jeans and beads for satins, glitter and make-up. I still love jeans, but I'm no longer confined within them.

What we think of as gay rock has much to do with this sort of thing. It is, without doubt, derived from a freak gay life style. An acid-queen extravaganza. You don't have to be gay to get in on the act, but you do have to go through some of what gays have to go through to get there. You have to proclaim your maleness in terms of beauty and sensuality not in terms of aggression and dominance. There's nothing like eye-shadow for making you feel your masculinity is under attack. Once you start to enjoy yourself, you've come a long way to a sort of self-realization.

There is a very important bonus to this as well. Other men feel their masculinity is under attack by what you do. If you are perceptive, you begin to realize what the oppression IS all about and this leads, whatever your sexuality, to a greater under- standing and friendship with women. However heterosexual our culture may be sexually, it is cert'ainly homosex- ual socially. The most heterosexual men in our society prefer to fuck wo- men but they don't seem to like them very much. "Get fucked" is not a wish for someone's pleasure.

Drag is a peculiar phenomenon, the psychology of which is still un- der discussion. There are two facts about it, however, that prove inter- esting. It flourishes most strongly in areas where there is very heavy re- pression and where stereotyped male and female roles are still pushed. Places like Australia, the Midlands of England and the South and Mid-West of the United States. These areas are also noted for a great deal of social ■^ violence. Drag, like violence, is a release from the tensions of the bur- den of repression. Toronto used to be a drag centre. Ten years ago, the Hal- lowe'en drag show on Yonge Street was a major event. It is, perhaps, an in- dication of the easing of sexual re- pression in Toronto that last year 3000 machos gathered on Yonge St. to throw bottles and abuse at about 12 drag queens. Alice Cooper provides re- lease in a way that is not essentially different from the drunken Rotarian in his wife's bra and best Eaton's lamp-shade.

However, this release of tension is temporary and does not cope with the real, the underlying tensions. As a gay, I don't really like it. It is too close to that other heterosex- ual ritual of queer bashing. I think that essentially it is a denial of sexuality.

"Most people are biae^ruuli every- body kfwae that" - David Bowie. Many people regard human sexuality as a continuum. The extremes are homo- sexuality and heterosexuality. Most people are probably somewhere in be- tween. The important thing is that .you occupy your own space and not be forced into one that isn't yours. Our society places a value on where you are sexually that increasingly makes less and less sense. But you don't easily do away with 2.000 years of this sort of value system. I res-

pect David Bowie for his honest state- ments even if I think his lyrics are sometimes too ambiguous.

Bowie worked for some time with Lindsay Kemp, the British mime. His performances reflect this training. Iftien he goes down on Mike Ronson, that most sensual of guitarists, there is a reality about it that gets across. His audiences feel the honesty of this sexual expression. They respond to it. No doubt there are many gay people in the audience, but not all nor even a majority. At this stage of the game, few people are shocked by the fact of homosexuality and titillation belongs to a different generation that Bowie audiences. No, they respond to it be- cause it strikes a chord in them. It is ritualized and perhaps that makes it acceptable. Bowie's openness allows the audience to be open as well. At his concerts you see young men touch- ing each other with an affection they have felt before but perhaps not shown in this way till then. Their girl- friends look on with warmth. This ap- proaches what gay people feel for each other. Mutual understanding is a giant step to mutual acceptance.

"5/ie never lost her head even when she was giving head" - Lou Reed. "Giving head" is an American expres- sion for cock-sucking. Lou Reed is fag-identified and with the rise of his popularity, there are for the first time, gay songs hitting the top charts. At present, he is the most open gay musician going. David Bowie, after all, is married but Lou Reed, well, even in Iowa they'd know what they were looking at. His Velvet Un- derground background and association with the decadence of Warhol give a flavour that is genuinely gay. Many of his songs, however, have an opium laziness about them and lack force and conviction. "Make-up"^ for example has been described as the "I feel Pretty" of the Gay Liberation Movement. It is insipid. But you can forgive a lot for "Waiting for the Man", "Sweet Jane" and "Walk on the Wild Side",

There is an earthiness about Reed that appeals. Recently, a Buffalo radio station offered free tickets to a Reed concert to the first person who could correctly give the number of calories in an average orgasm. IVhen humour is present, is sanity far be- hind?

"Canadian gay rock groups? If there are any^ they're not saying anything about it." RCA Public Relations Office - Toronto.

The trouble with gay rock is not that it isn't gay but that all gay people are not like that. There is no such thing as gay music. No such thing as straight music either. There are gay lyrics and gay musicians. There are a lot of gay musicians probably for the same sort of reasons that there are a lot of black musicians. Good musicians deserve respect but gay musicians generally have to dir- ectly or indirectly conceal t"heir gay- ness. Or they don't play. When Jim Morrison died, we were all treated to the fact that he was gay. Well, dead gays, like dead Indians, Blacks, Jews etc. don't pose any threat. Live ones have to live, so they "pass". It is too easy to say they should come out and sing the songs of their hearts. It is really up to rock listeners to give them the opportunity. RCA was not going to release Reed's Transfor- mer in Canada because they thought there was no market for it. They were wrong. But how many great songs are we being denied because of this stupid attitude towards gayness? The singers will come out but isn't there a danger that before the good ones do, the in- ferior ones will seize upon this as a gimmick? I could throw the names at you, but w^iat would that do? Let me just tell you this tale.

There's a young singer in Toronto named John. He's good. He's probably good enough to make it. One of the record companies thinks so too. They'll probably promote him. But he has al- ready been told to conceal his being gay. He has written some songs that can't be sung by a man. Why not? Be- cause the record companies and the radio stations think we, the listen- ers and buyers, would object. Would we? Would you?

You know, if you put all the ho- mosexuals in Canada in one place it would be the third largest city in in Canada. Now there is something wrong with a community that size not having its own music. And there is something sick about a community sup- pressing the music of a minority with- in it.

Warren Hague tiXis an early and central participant in the Gay Liberation Front in London until the end of *?2 when he returned to Canada.

(This article ia reprinted with the peiynieeion of Great Lakes from their April issue.)

Page 20

The Body Politic

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The Body Politic

gay fantasies

a plea for information

by greg lehne

As a gay psychologist, I am Interested in male and fe» male gay fantasies and 'types'. Most people have fantasies of a sexual nature regarding Individuals, groups, erotic situations or feelings, specific sex acts or types of re^ latlonshlps. Also, many people have a preferred sexual type with specific physical or personality characteristics. I think that such fantasies and types may contribute to the development of sexual barriors. Therefore, I am requesting

the help of mexobers of the gay comnunity to provide infor- mation for an analysis of gay fantasias and types. Please take some time and thought, then send the following infor- mation to: Greg Lehne, c/o The Body Politic, 139 Seaton •^t., Toronto, Ontario. Please answer In as much detail as you wish. A compilation of the replies will be presented In a future Issue, Tear along the dotted line and return this sheet and any additional paper you use.

BACKGROUND

Sex Age Height Weight

Hair Colour and length

Beard or moustache:

Style of dress:

Political orientation:

How frequently do you have sex?

Do you have sex with a lot of different people, or usually have a series of sexual affairs with, one person at a time (etc.)?

How old were you when you betame aware of these fantasies? What was your reaction to them?

Have your fantasies changed over time? Any idea why?

Would you speculate on the origins of these fantasies i.e. relation to ,,-our experiences, people^sex you have known, enjoyed, unfulfilled etc.

Where and how do you meet people for sex?

Please describe your first significant sexuAl experience, and your reactions:

Please describe your usual sexual activities:

FANTASIES— Use additional paper if necessary.

What role and what significance do you feel these fantasies have in your sex life?

What typeCa) of people do you desire to have sex with (ap- pearance, age, personality, class background. Job, etc.)?

What typeCs) of people do you usually have sex with?

What types of people, If any, would you want to have a long term love affair with?

Do you think there is a difference between your sexual type and the person you would want to have a long term relatlon-

When, and how frequently, do you have fantasies (masturba- ®^^P ^^^"^

tion, night or day dreams, during sex, when you see people

on the street, etc. J?

Please describe the sex, age, appearance, personality and type(s) of person(s) in the fantasies:

Specify If you have known the personCa), If they are always the same or vary In your fantasies. Is their appearance, etc. important?

What do you think is the relationship between your fantasies, tjrpes, and love/sex life?

Do you think that your fantasies or types involve people similar to yourself, or different?

Other comments:

Describe the activity, setting, emotional atmosphere of the fantasies:

If you are not aware of having fantasies, or of being at- tracted to types, or If you used to but don't anymore please elaborate with any additional relevant information.

The Body Politic

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Also, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission is directly responsible to the province's Attorney General. This means that a hostile minister would be able to quash recommenda- tions deriving from that body without having to answer for his actions either to the public or to gays. If Mackay wins in his constituency, this danger is minimized; he has openly recognized the le- gitimacy of gay claims to e- quality.

Ed. Note: Since the wri- ting of the article, Asper was declared the winner by judici- al recount. The significance of this for gay civil rights in Manitoba has yet to be de- termined.

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We welcome your Classified business and personal ads. Please include payment with the ad. We reserve the right to edit or refuse any ad. Mail will not be forwarded by the paper.

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For free questionnaire, full 1974 membership, write to International Steambather & Bodybuilder Assocn. Box 142, Station Q, Toronto 7. All gays welcome, identity disclosed to others only after you OK them from info, pix supplied^ Members get gay world travelbook. Special I.S. B.A. fee for students under 25.

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Long Time Coming: Gay Women's Newspaper, P.O. Box 61, Station E. Montreal ISl. P.Q. $3.00 per year

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Han to:

Toronto, Ontario

Ottawa

British Columbia

Vancouver

Cay Alliance Toward Equalit)' P.O.Box 6S72, Station C Vancouver 8 681-4768

Cay People of U.B.C. Box 9, Student Union Building

University of British Columbia 73e-S3l9

tfoRien's Place 1766 1*. Broadway Gay Women's Resource Centre 756-8471

Alberta

Edmonton

Giiy Alliance Toward Equality CO. Box 18S2 Edmonton TSJ 2P2

The Vomcn'i Centre

II812-9Sth ST. 47fl-7J78

Colgory

A People's Liberatioi Rn. 314.

223-i:th Ave S.N, Calgary, T2H 0G9 :6J-4996C7PM.nPMl

Saskatchewan

Regina

University of Saskatchewan Honophile Association

c/o Students' Union Building

U. of Saskatchewan -Regina Campus

Women's Liberation 2259 Cameron St.

Saskatoon

Saskatoon Gay Action P.O.Box 1662 Saskatoon

Conmunity Centre: 124A-2nd. Ave, Drop-IN:7:30-10PM Ked. 6SZ-0972

Manitoba

Winnipeg

Gays for Equality Box 127(R«. 1026) University Centre University of Manitoba 474-8211{local 16)

Ontario

Hamilton

Gay Liberation Movement P.O. Box 44 Station B llanilton L8L 7TS Meetings:alternate Tues. Senior Science Building Rii).272A,McMaster Universi

The Women's Centre

306 Herkimer St, S28-4583

Kitchener- Water loo

Waterloo Universities CayLiberatit

Movement c/o Federation of Students University of Waterloo Office: Room 217C-Campus Centre KeeitngsiMon 8PH. Rm. 113,Canpue Centre— 88S-1211(ext. 2372)

London

University of Western Oi HoDophlle Association

U.C.C. I20IC

U. of Western Ontario

London N6A 3K7

679-6439

Meetings: Men 8PM

Toronto

ANIK P.O.Box 841. Station K Toronto M4P 2A2 46S-9243

Meetings:Mon 8PH Holy Trinity Church starting Septeuber

tty Alliance Toward EquaIiiy(G.A.T.E. ) 6 Boswell Ave Toronto MSR 1M4 961-6496

Community Honophile Association of Torom 223 Church St. -3rd. floor 862-1544 (24 hr, emergency service) CHAT Centre-201 Church St. (2nd, floor) Tues 8PM-meeting Thurs SPH-wonen's night Fri. Sat S Sun-dances,

The Women's Place

31 Dupont St.

929-318S

Lesbian Collective

Lesbian Drop-In Fri. 8PM Metropolitan Cowoiunlty Church

501 Yonge St.. suite 3A

901-S332

Services: Sun. 8PH Holy Trinity Church

Gays of/d'Ottawa P.O.Box 2919, Station D Ottawa KIP SW9 Meet ines:3lternate Tues, at PestalO£ii College. 160 Chapel 22nd floor lounge 8PM GO-Centre Drop-In:Rin. 601 Pestaloi: 7-lOPM Mon-Fri S 2-7PM Sat 5 Sun 238-1717

CO-Carleton University Meetings: suspended until sutudm Language Lounge, Patterson Hall - Bn 11

Ottawa Women's Centre 136 Levis Sc, (rear) 233-2560

Windsor

Gay Unity Box 2, Sandwich P.O. Meetings: Wed. 7PH U, of Windsor. Rm. 2103 Math Bldg,

The Hoaen's Place 96S University Ave.K.

Quebec

Centre Kunanicalre d'alde

et de liberation (CHAL)

CP 596. Haute-Vllle

ouebec PQ GIR iHS

Montreal

Cay-McGill 34B0 rue McTavlsh Montreal 112 392-8921

Cay Line 843-8841 Fri.SatSSun (7PM-IAH)

Gay-Vanier Vanicr CEGEP Ville St Laurent 744-4935, 744-0138

Centre d'Accuell Ilomophlle de Montreal

Cay CooDunlty Centre 3^39 rue St, Denis

F.L.F. Centre de la Feme 3908 rue Mctana 523-3260

Montreal Women's Centre 1433 Bishop-Apt. 2

Nova Scotia

I Gay Caucus al A, Toronto

LInitarian Universal!! contact Elgin Blair P.O.Box 6248, Tcmir

York University Homophile Associati 215 Ross Humanities Buildins Gays, take over phone at Harbinger Counselling Services Rn. 214 Vanier College Residence llAM-lPM(Mon,-Fri.) 667.3632

Halifax

Gay Alliance for Equality (C, A. E.) Suite 207

158S Barrington St. 423-7657(7F»1-I0PM) Thurs-Sun Heetings:altemate Wed, at 8W The Unlversalist Unitarian Church 5500 Inglis St.