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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1957)
Thursday, January 31, 1957 MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE THREE to V v V- Ti v r- - , ' 7 ;5v si 1 4"r RUNNING HOUSEHOLD from wheelchair, Mrs. David Phillips, Los Gatos, Calif., refuses to be downhearted al though stricken with polio in 1951. She has been named national polio mother of year. Her three children, Eugene, 14; Tommy, 9 and Lani Sue, 7, also stricken with ailment, are on road to recovery. (International Soundphoto) The Medical Roundup ((. VA Emtrltui Consultant in Medicine, Mayo Clinic Emeritus Professor of Medicine. Mayo Foundation V Or Alvarez Do Periom Whoi Sex It Mixed Up Injur Boys or Girls? After publishing a column on transvestites, or "men" who like to dress as women, I re- ceived a num ber of interest ing letters from persons with this trou ble who were very grateful for my sym pathetic under stand ing of their problem and their great suffering. As several of these person wrote, they are extreme ly, unhappy because, while they re so perfectly feminine in their character and their feel ings, they are encased in a male body which they dislike and do not want. Only after reading the letters from some of these women who are living in a male body, did I see why they are so frantic to be operated on and made more like a woman phy ilcally. I would be frantic too. If my male mind and personality were shut up in a woman's body and I had to wear skirts. Other letters which Interested me were from men who express ed the usual hatred and dislike most persons have for anyone who is different from the aver age run. My correspondents tried to justify our stupid and cruel and unjust laws by ac cusing the sexually different of "corrupting boys and ruining them for life." But do they do this?. Observations made during the course of a long medical life .have made me greatly doubt this. Because I am not an expert In these matters, I wrote for information to a man who has spent his life studying them: my friend. Dr. Henry Benjamin. In his reply, he said positively that the male transvestites are not homosexuals and they are not at all aggressive. He doubts U they would ever try to seduce a boy. He said, "I agree with you that unless a boy does not mind being seduced or wants to be seduced, he will resist and will resist successfully." Homosexual Tendencies As Kinsey showed, a high percentage of boys before pub erty have homosexual tenden cies. They haven't yet differen tiated sufficiently in their sex to have decided what they want to be. As Benjamin went on to say, "I believe with you most emphatically that the normal boy is not in danger of being ruined by homosexual exper ience." As a physician I can't see how a youth could be injured by having had a homosexual experience. Unless he got a veneral disease he couldn't be injured physically, and I doubt tf he would be injured psychical ly unless his escapade were to become widely known and there by to bring him into disgrace. Forty years ago a few parents brought me boys who had had homosexual experience, and in the years that followed, I could not see that these boys had been injured. With time, most of them lost their rather feminine roundness, and became more masculine. Most of them married and had children. One of them, in spite of much disgrace in his boy hood, became prominent in his state. He has been a leader: a fine athlete, and a much-liked man. Really Male Prostitutes I also know from reading many books and articles on the subject that a large percentage of the laoys approached by men j are really male prostitues. They like the money and presents given them by the men who solicit their favors. In all big cities there are certain districts in which these boys walk around every evening, waiting to be picked up. Most of the boys, or perhaps all of the boys, whom abnormal men try to seduce are approach ed because they are obviously somewhat homosexual. Often they have a rather feminine make-up, with a lovely complex ion, wide hips, and feminine mannerisms. Most homosexual men hate to be rebuffed, and so they are not likely to ap proach boys who look strong and athletic. I know that in my youth I never was approach ed by any man, and I never heard of any of my athletic chums on the track team and the football team who were ap proached.' There are homosexual women who will accept the devoted friendship of some girl who gets a crush on them, but I don't think they do the girl much harm. Often, later, she marries and gets along well enough. True Hermaphrodite Interestingly, I just read of a definitely male young man who recently was found to be a true hermaphrodite, with complete sets of both male and female organs. He went to a physician when he began to menustrate. Since he was so decidedly mas culine in his mental make-up the doctors removed his ovaries and womb. What struck me so forcibly about this case is that in spite of the presence of func tioning ovaries, this lad was masculine he had no tendency to be mixed-up in his sexuality as so many homosexual lads are. I remember well a sweet lovely and very, feminine young woman I 6nce saw as a patient. She also was a true hermaphro dite. In spite of the fact that she had testicles, as well as ovaries, -there was no doubt about her femininity. These two cases, alone, would make me feel strongly what I have felt for other reasons, and this is that the main difficulty in homosexual persons lies, not in the defective male or female glands, but in the brain. Dr. Alvarez hopes his readers will understand that it would be impossible for him to answer requests for information or to attempt to diagnose by mail. (Released by The Register and Tribune Syndicate, 1957) jiiMura SAVE! SAVE! SAVE GROCETERIA DOLLAR DAYS SEE THE GROCETERIA AD ON PAGES 6-7 Transportation Club Names Bob Burnett New Chairman Bob Burnett, local district freight and passenger agent for the Rio Grande railroad, was boosted to senior director and chairman of the board at a re cent meeting of the Rogue Val ley Transportation club. He succeeds John Stromberg of the Union Pacific railroad, who was promoted and trans ferred to Portland. Succeeding Burnett as junior director is Dave Franklin, local agent for Mayflower Transfer company, who will serve in that capacity until the annual elections in June. Membership Enlarged The club unanimously approv ed an interpretation of the club's constitution to enlarge the member ship of the organ ization by including allied in dustries such as communica tions. Individuals now engaged in allied forms of transportation are eligible to join the trans portation club at the monthly luncheon meetings in the Pio neer room of the Jackson hotel, members said. These meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month. The regular meeting for February has been cancelled in lieu of a Valentines party which will be held Saturday evening, Feb. 15. New Members Four new members were ap- AEC Geologist Admits Valuable Map Theft Denver (U.R) A former Atomic Energy Commission geologist pleaded guilty in Fed eral Court Wednesday to a charge that he stole an AEC uranium exploration map pos sibly worth $10 million and sold it to private prospectors. John P. Kellogg, 39, of Grand Junction, Colo., where the AEC has an operations office, chang ed a plea of innocent to a second indictment of guilty. AEC officials said uranium on the land covered by the stolen map might be worth $10 million. proved by the board of direc tors. They are Bob Toomey, new general agent of the Union Pa cific railroad here; Jack Fitz gerald of Davis Transfer and Storage company; Clyde Knight of Pierce Freight lines; and Dar rell Koss, a non-resident mem ber from Portland with the Monom railroad. These four new members raise to 27 the ! number of resident members and seven non-resident mem bers.' Anyone Interested In joining the transportation club i.iay contact Harold Pyle at 3-5616; Bob Burnett. 3-3116; Bob Ste phenson, 3-5325; Bob Holmes, 2- 7173; Al Reiss, 3-5388: or in the evening, R. J. Higgins, 3- 5756. DRIVE-IN CLEANERS "YOUR CASH AND CARRY CLEANERS" ft FASTEST Q BRIGHTER SERVICE CLEANING All Your Garments In Plastic Bags 2 Convenient Locations 844 S. 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