HAY
2146 Fargo Street
Los Angeles 39, Calif.
10-6-52
Dear Jay Clark:
Much water has flew over the garden wall since last we talked.
Our long-awaited trial, due to be heard in the middle of your six-weeks swing around the country, was again delayed by the city for four more weeks. Finally it was argued for three days beginning June 23rd. The Defense was most brilliant…even in the face of the coldest newspaper silence heard in some time. The Jury was treated to a militant exposition of what it is like to [be] a Homosexual in today’s socio-political climate. The Jury, admitting later that the trial was one of the best educations they had ever received, took 36 hours to bring in a hung verdict of 11-1 for acquittal. (11-1 was the count of the very first ballot,—and it never changed throughout the entire closeting. The bastard of the ballad was the Foreman himself. Twenty-three days later, five days before the case was scheduled to be re-tried,—The City moved to dismiss. And thus we have on our books a case of an admitted homosexual who defended his civil privilege to be protected from entrapment AND WON;…we have a guy who has declared his homosexual status in the Courts and who, rather than having to register as a lewd and dissolute person, instead has for the first time legally equated his status with that of a decent and responsible person.
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In the meantime, the Mattachine Foundation has been duly established under the Corporate Laws of the State of California. Accompanying this note, please find several pieces of literature which purports to give some indication of what the Foundation is and seeks to do. One of its properties, not listed as yet, is healthy section of the trial transcript, (an expensive little piece), which is being prepared in brochure form for general distribution.
One night last spring you and I talked at some length about what the Foundation might be able to achieve, and I was most impressed with the many concrete suggestions which you had to offer. At the September meeting of the Foundation’s Administrative Council, it was proposed that several prominent persons be invited to inspect the Foundation to the end that they consider aligning themselves with its Council. Amongst such recommendations was yourself. The October meeting, to which you are herby most earnestly invited, will be held October 14th at 3132 Oak Crest Drive at 8:30 pm. At that time the Council’s guests will be able to peruse the Foundation’s By-Laws, its currently accepted projects, its pro-ten mechanics, and generally its prospect for contributive existences.
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If you would like to comment future on this material prior to October 14th, you may reach me at NOrmandie 3-6483 around 7 pm most evenings,—or at Tucker 1506 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. I shall be delighted to hear from you.
Very truly yours,
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P.S.:
You might be interested to know that our mailing list includes “inquiries” from San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and New York. Donald Webster Cory has recommended several of his correspondents to contact us. And we are currently engaged in making a connection with the International Federation of Homophile Associations, whose 1952 Congress was held in Amsterdam and whose agenda included a telegram to the United Nations protesting the treatment and general attitudes of and towards Homophiles in the United States.
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