SOCIAL LEPERS OR SICK MEN?
SIR,—There is an aspect of homosexuality not so far •touched on in your correspondence. The man suffering from disease accepts treat- ment, and wishes to get well. The homo- sexual, on the other hand, very often claims that his disease, is preferable to the normal state; that he is a forerunner of a third sex which Nature is about to evolve; that Uranian love is superior to the love of woman. With the help of these dubious arguments and through his hold in certain semi-artistic quarters, he recruits his ranks from silly young men, with hankerings for the arts and no very clear sense of values. The prestige value of homosexuality ,is very carefully built up. Small literary reputations, for instance, may be built up for homosexuals by a claque of homo- sexuals; the wide public generally fails to be impressed. In ,certain quarters the writing of homosexuals, the painting of homosexuals or the acting of homosexuals is rated above that of the commoner mortal. w:th a distressing effect not only on the young people drawn into a society where abnormality is de rigueur, but also on the broad public who, hearing rumours and seeing evidence of these scandals, decide that modern art in general is decadent, whereas only one very vocal part of it is.
I can suggest no remedy for this state of affairs. The law of libel effectually protects groups of people whose influence is pernicious, but can only be d:minished by a common prosecution, in which they have generally the sympathy of the liberal-minded man. A series of objective articles on the homosexual's psychology, a more open discussion of the subject by the non-sensational press, might help to remove the glamour with which these pathetic, sometimes talented and often dan- gerous men have succeeded in surrounding themselves.
My argument, of course, holds equally true of the Lesbian, who is usually to be found in the same company as her abnormal brothers. —Yours faithfully,
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