|
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gay & Lesbian Review, Inc.
WHILE I HAVE always been a very private person, in early September of 1960, I was caught in the center of a moral hurricane. While vacationing on the Cape, I read in The New York Times that my colleagues, Newton Arvin and Ned Spofford, had been arrested for possessing "pornographic" photos. I soon heard on the radio that there was a warrant out for my arrest. Thus began the episode that culminated in my being tried and fired from my teaching job at Smith College.
On hearing that radio report as I began my third year at Smith, and fearing the worst, I immediately left for Cambridge, where a friend had already arranged for an excellent lawyer to meet me. William Homans then told me about Sergeant John Regan, a ruthless and publicity-seeking officer who led the Pornography Squad. A police unit with unlimited powers, this posse had recently been established by the state legislature in response to an alert triggered by the country's Postmaster General. Regan vowed in the media and in public speeches to cleanse the Commonwealth of what he considered its "filth." Like other such crusaders, Regan couldn't define "pomography," but apparently knew it when he saw it. The post office in Springfield had somehow spotted suspicious photos in a package addressed to Newton Arvin. Very soon the spirit of old Salem was resurrected in Northampton, and the righteous were once again out to get the sinners.
Within three weeks I was tried twice before two judges in the county courthouse. At the first trial I was astonished to see my colleague Arvin testifying against me. Terrified when the police had confronted him in his apartment, Arvin had "ratted," to use Lillian Hellman's word, betraying several of his friends by giving their names to the Squad. He testified that not long before four colleagues had shared with him some photos of male nudes in...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
|
Bookmark this article
Print this article
Link to this article
Email this article
Digg It!
Add to del.icio.us
RSS
