The only dissent, apparently a passing indignation, came from New York.

Now, New York cannot be passed over lightly. It had been certainly the second largest and most active group in the Society, with about half as many active members as San Francisco. For the past several years most of the dissent within the Society has arisen from conflicts between these two groups, with crippling effect upon the aims and goals of the Society. The fact that the New York leaders did not approve the Board of Directors' decision seemed a paradox here in San Francisco, for at the last two General Conventions, the delegation from New York had advocated a revision of the entire organizational setup of the Society into a "federation," and that of course, is just what they had been granted by the decision of the Board. What, then, was the cause of the opposition of New York? This soon became quite apparent in the April issue of their Newsletter.

It had been decided at a special meeting in New York that the local group would continue, and that it would call itself "The Mattachine Society of New York." Now, aside from the fact that such a course is absolutely illegal (both the Mattachine name and emblem are registered with the Bureau of Patents in Washington, D.C. as the property of the Mattachine Society, Inc., a California corporation), it is also very confusing, and a great hindrance to the homophile movement in this country.

As a San Francisco member pointed out, "it is not the Mattachine Society which is important, nor is it a partisan view of the homosexual himself, but a greater and freer life in a nation. . . etc. Surely, there is someone in New York who has enough ingenuity to conceive of a name for that group, and thus avoid

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deceiving the public. Yet it would seem that this is the crux of the matter: New York apparently desires to continue as an organization in its own right, but with the patronage bestowed by the use of a name which has already gained recognition and which does not belong to them.

Now, let us look at the New York side of the question. The New York Area Council Charter was granted in 1956 and it has been quite active since that time, although several crises have set the group back on certain occasions. In 1958 the New York group sponsored perhaps the most successful Convention from an educational and prestige point of view that the Society has ever had. Also the New York group has been able to maintain a sizable membership about half that of San Francisco. The Mattachine name has been used consistently in New York in connection with the work of this Area Council, it being known as the "New York Chapter" and later as the "New York Area Council of the Mattachine Society."

On the other hand, the San Francisco Area Council has been active since 1953, almost twice as long as the New York group, and it has maintained a membership of more than twice that of New York during that time. The Review and all other publications have been published since that time and the national office in San Francisco has maintained an office open six days a week for several years. It has maintained continuously relations with other local organizations and prominent individuals in San Francisco and throughout the world. In short, there is hardly an adult person in Northern California who does not know about the Mattachine Society, a California Corp.

The Mattachine Society has not begun to acquire such significance in New York or even on the East Coast

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