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''One" Not Obscene Book Reviews Letters

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''One FEBRUARY 1958 50c HELEN P. BRANSON TELLS REASONS Whx Homosexuals Don’t Get Married (Page 8) ’’ONE" NOT OBSCENE SAYS U. S. SUPREME COURT (Page 4) BOOK REVIEWS LETTERS Casting a Spotlight on Human Sox Problom s — For THINKING ADULTS ■ nattachf ne O ffici Of THf S04*D Of DI«ECrO*S inattachine ^rittg, M.. Copyright1 295S by the Matlacbine Society, incorporated FOURTH YEAR OF PUBLICATION-UATTACHIHE REVIEW founded January 1955 Mauaebint Foundation establisbid 1950; M<tttacbine*Society, Inc., ebartered 2954 OBSCENITY NEEDS TO BE DEFINED Volume IV FEBRUARY 1958 Number 2 The declaration by the U. S. Supreme Court that ONE magazine is not obscene (see page 4) is a victory for freedom of expression everywhere in the U. S., and not a gain for the 'homosexual press' Comtemt» alone. ARTICLES Changing times, changing attitudes and the general progress of human civilization call for old standards to be examined critically VICTORY FOR ONE by John Logan.........................................4 from time to time. The vague old bogey of obscenity is one of HOMOSEXUALS AS I SEE THEM by Helen P. Branson.. 8 these and within the past year or so sponsors of censorship on ob­ ENIGMA UNDER SCRUTING by Sexology Research Staff..14 scenity grounds have been called to task mote than once, but the right of Federal and State governments to judge and ban obscene SHORT FEATURES material has been upheld, as we believe it should be (see MATTA’ COURT RELEASES KINSEY MATERIAL..................................5 CHINE REVIEW. July 1957). We believe that ONE and MATTACHINE agree that freedom to CUSTOMS’ SEVEN-YEAR ITCH IS SCRATCHED............6 publish educational information, in an interesting and readable SOCIETY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF SEX..........7 form, on the subject of sex variation is a genuine service in the ARMY REVIEWS RISK DISCHARGES.......................................14 interest of truth, justice and human well-being. At the same time, respect for law must be maintained. This does not mean, however, CODE OF EUSEBIUS...................................................... ^9 that laws believed to be unjust cannot be criticized. DR. FISHER COMMENTS ON HOMOSEXUALITY The Supreme Court has hit the nail on the head in our opinion by Dewi Morgan 24 when it called for a more precise definition of obscenity. What is GERMAN POLICE SHIELD EXTORTION VICTIM............... 29 obscene to one person may not be to another. The American Law Institute recognized this more than a year ago when it tried to ar­ DEPARTMENTS rive at a definition of the term, but ideas were so divergent that EDITORIAL................................2 MATTACHINE DIRECTORY.22 it virtually skipped the subject in its Model Penal Code. The need FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.. 18 READERS WRITE....................25 for the definition remains. It should be of uniform application to BOOK REVIEWS..................2 0 MATTACHINE SALUTES...27 the entire nation—and not something that 48 state legislatures can butcher to suit varied ignorance,prejudice and political opportun­ REVIEW is published monthly by the Mattachine ism. Society, Inc., 693 Mission Street, San Francisco, San Francisco 5. Neighboring Canada, perhaps, has the problem, too. Calif., a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in the public interest (or the purpose of providing true and accurate information In a recent issue of the tabloid, JUSTICE WEEKLY, published toward the solution of problmns of human sex behavior, particularly in Toronto, a list of 152 publications—mostly magazines which ap- those of the hmnosexual adult. The REVIEW is available on many on U. S. newsstands from coast to coast, were named as banned U.S. newsstands. (Continued on page 28) 2 Primed in u. s. A. mwttaedime R B V IE Rf tion. One carried the battle to the nation’s highest court about a year ago. The Court cited the Roth case of June 1957 in arriving at its decision. In this case it had ruled that obscenity must be inter­ BY JOHN LOGAN preted by stricter standards, and essentially galled for a mote rig­ orous and precise definition of "obscenity.” | The various members of the Supreme Court may have joined in the unanimous action for different reasons, but it is clear, accord­ ing to a news release from One, Inc., 4jiat One magazine did not appear obscene to the Court. ** Eric Julber, Los Angeles attorney for One, Inc., filed the brief with the Court. SUPREME COURT Also on the legal front In Jonuory 1958 come another important announcement: Government Decides Not to Contest Court Ruling to Admit LIFT S BAN IN Pornographic Material for Use in Kinsey Research Work UNANIMOUS (From the Portland Oregonian) DECISION NEW YORK- The fed­ cision with a public statement that the new standard cdvers eral government has accepted admission of materials “for a new legal standard for ob­ genuine scientific use only.” scenity and agreed to'let the The decision, the treasury Kinsey institute import some said, “does not mean the bars concededly pornographic pic­ are down” for pornographic tures, books and other objects. In a unanimous decision the U. S. Supreme Court reversed a Post The decision was hailed here imports intended for public dis Office ban on the mailing of One, the homosexual magazine, on Saturday by the law firm tribution. January 13, 1958, in Washington, D. C. Also lifted by the unan- which represented the institute C ustom s Commissioner in a government law suit as “a Ralph Kelly said: mous decision of the Court was a ban on two nudist magazines. victory for the mind of man.” “The ruling is of very limit­ Sunshine & Health and Sun Magazine. The government’s suit was ed application. Imports of por­ The Court appears to have found that the magazines simply were directed against Indiana uni­ nographic and obscene mater­ versity’s institute for Sex Re­ ials intended for the general not obscene, thus reversing lower Federal Court decisions result­ search incorporated. The insti­ public continue to be illegal, ing from charges made by postal officials. In the case of One, the tute was founded by the late and will be seized and de­ ban specifically applied to the October 1954 issue only. Cited in Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey. stroyed by customs if at­ the original charges by Los Angeles postoffice were an article, The new standard held that tempted.” "Sappho Remembered,” a poem, "Lord Samuel and Lord Montagu,” the material is not legally ob­ The material involved had scene because it is unlikely to been seized by the customs bu­ and the general tone of the magazine, which carried a series of arouse the “prurient interest” reau over the last seven years drawings under the heading, "Gay Menagerie,” and an article on of Uiose who will see it. on its way to the »institute. the law of mailable material headed, "You Can’t Print That.” The The official position prev­ A government suit to have iously had been that a thing is the material destroyed was re­ postoffice stand was that it couldn’t be mailed. o^ene in itself, no matter jected here last November 1 by One, Inc. fought the charges in both a Federal Court in Los Ang­ wno is going to see or read it. Federal District Judge Ed­ eles and a Federal Court of Appeals at San Francisco, where it The treasury department mund L. Palmieri. He ruled lost both counts. With shoestring financing but strong determina- quii^y followed up the de- that an object is not legally ob- 4 m attcuAiM e r the various cultural expressions of human sexuality. scene if the person importing The imports in the Kinsey When the objects began arriving in New York, it has a genuine scientUic pur­ case include photography Chi­ Customs men seized them. No Government report pose. nese p ain tin g s, statuettes, His decision that the institute books and what were identified is ever likely to reveal how many hours of “scientific was entitled to have the im­ as “lavatory wall inscriptions.” study” have since been given this material by the pounded material was stayed The government’s decision to Fedefral officialdom of New York. If it has not while the government pondered accept and apply generally the whether to appeal. new obscenity standard does undergone frequent re-examination, then Customs The final decision not to ap­ not bind the post office. How­ men are different from ordinary cops. A cop who peal was made by Solidtor ever, it may influence the atti­ Confiscates a particularly gamey burlesque-house General J. Lee Rankin aher tude of postal officials in decid­ film is flooded for weeks with demands for private the criminal division of the jus­ ing whether matter is “Ob­ tice department had indorsed scene” and therefore non-mail­ bookings. a treasury recommendation able. In taking the Kinsey materials out of the hands against appeal. of the Customs Bureau, the District Court has not merely helped serious scholarship but it also has Many leading newspapers commented editorially on the above stepped on a particularly repugnant form of the action. Here is what appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle; Federal propensity to tell university scholars what they are entitled to read and study—and therefore think. The whole episode is especially sordid because Customs’ 7-Year Itch it was so unnecessary. Is Finally Scratched THE SOCIETY FOR THE SCIEHTIFIC STUDY OF SEX A SEVEN YEARS’ ITCH of the U. S. Customs PURPOSE Bureau to destroy some books, photographs, Hi« Socitty for ttw Sciontific Study of Sm (SSSS) ho boon orgoniiod to fottor intordlseiplinory eichongo in the fiold of SMUol bowtodjo. The aim of tba Socjoty a to paintings and statuettes .collected by the late Dr. bring together ict«nti»+i working In the biological, n>odicai, anthropological, psychological, so d ^ ica l.
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