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If there is anything to be said in favor of Guy Burgess, who died in Moscow, August 30th, at the age of 53, it is that although he chose to fly from his country, he stood by his homosexuality. It is no easier for the homosexual in Russia than in England. In fact, homosexuality is strictly against Soviet law. Little wonder then that Burgess, during his 12 years of self-imposed exile in company with his diplomatic colleague Donald Maclean, was never able to adjust to his new environment. Burgess was a traitor in only the one sense, we now see. To the American homosexual whose choice in such a matter has long ago been whittled away by English spurning founding fathers, Burgess remaining allegiance would appear to be basically worthy.

But no one likes a traitor, and a weak sister Guy Burgess was generally. It is a pity to have to admit that the man was one of us. The background of the story is common knowledge. When Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess vanished from England in 1951 after passing official secrets while in the foreign service, the scandal created a sensation. By the time the absconders turned up in Moscow in 1956, their homosexual proclivities had become well publicized. To this conspiratorial pair probably

more than any other source goes the linking of homosexuality and the question of security risks.

How far Maclean's homosexual interests extended is not known, although he had at one time been bosom buddies with Burgess. Once in Russia he was quickly able to adopt to his new home. He learned the language fluently and has for many years now been joined by his wife, two sons and his mother-in-law. But as Maclean had fled from his native England, he soon fled from his old friend Burgess and any association with homosexual life. Whether this was the result of mother-in-law or of Soviet influence remains a question.

the Etonian Guy Burgess on other hand, who had once had everything, position, money, good looks, entree anywhere, etc., preferred to live on the fringe of the Soviet world around him. He let it be known that he came from the upper stratum of British society. He avoided the Russian people, and refused to learn more than a few words of Russian. The accumulating years seemed to add only a burden to Burgess as he lived out his years as a stranger in new surroundings. He seemed to acquire nothing except an aggravated heart condition.

He did have one solace in a boy-friend (see tangents, ONE, Au-

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