Editing Harry Hay (section)

===Mattachine Society: 1948 to 1953===
{{quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=The post-war reaction, the shutting down of open communication, was already of concern to many of us progressives. I knew the government was going to look for a new enemy, a new scapegoat. It was predictable. But Blacks were beginning to organize and the horror of the holocaust was too recent to put the Jews in this position. The natural scapegoat would be us, the Queers. They were the one group of disenfranchised people who did not even know they were a group because they had never formed as a group. They – we – had to get started. It was high time.|source= —Harry Hay.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=135}}}}

Influenced by the publication of the [[Kinsey Reports]], Hay conceived the idea of a homosexual activist group in August 1948 which later became the Mattachine Society. After signing a petition for [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]] presidential candidate [[Henry A. Wallace]], Hay spoke with other gay men at a party about forming a gay support organization for the campaign called "Bachelors for Wallace". Encouraged by the response he received, Hay wrote out the organizing principles that night, a document he referred to as "The Call", however the men who had expressed an interest were not enthused the following morning.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p==132–134}}<ref name="miller333">Miller, p. 333</ref><ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 61</ref> Over the next two years, Hay refined his idea, finally conceiving of an "international ... fraternal order" to serve as "a service and welfare organization devoted to the protection and improvement of Society's Androgynous Minority",<ref>Hay, quoted in Hay/Roscoe, p. 63</ref> the latter being a term that he later rejected.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=136}} He planned to call this organization "Bachelors Anonymous" and envisioned it serving a similar function and purpose as [[Alcoholics Anonymous]].<ref>Hay, quoted in Hay/Roscoe, p. 65</ref> At the centre of its approach was Hay's view that homosexuals were "a social minority" or "cultural minority" who were being oppressed; in this he was influenced by Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]]'s Marxist–Leninist concepts of what constituted a minority group.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=136}}

Hay met [[Rudi Gernreich]] in July 1950, with the pair soon entering a relationship. Gernreich shared many of Hay's leftist ideas, and was impressed by The Call. He became an enthusiastic financial supporter of the venture, although  not lending his name, going instead by the initial "R".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=139–142}}<ref name = progressive /><ref>Ehrenstein, p. 47</ref><ref>D'Emilio, p. 62</ref> Hay, Gernreich, and their friends [[Dale Jennings (activist)|Dale Jennings]], [[Bob Hull]], and Chuck Rowland met on November 11, 1950, in Los Angeles, under the name "Society of Fools".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=143–145}}<ref>Hogan, et al., pp. 382–3</ref> The group changed its name to "Mattachine Society" in April 1951, chosen by Hay at the suggestion of fellow member [[James Gruber]],{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=150}}<ref>Johansson and Percy, p. 92</ref> based on [[France in the Middle Ages|Medieval French]] [[Secret society|secret societies]] of masked men who (through their anonymity) were empowered to criticize ruling monarchs with impunity.<ref name = rhh />

In April 1951, Hay informed his wife about his continuing homosexuality and his work with the Mattachine Society; she was angry and upset. In September they gained a divorce on the grounds of Hay's "extreme cruelty" and he moved out of their home.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=157–158}} He continued to send half his paycheck to Anita for twelve years, meanwhile cutting out most of his friends from that social milieu.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=161}} He informed the Communist Party of the news, recommending that he be expelled; the Party forbade homosexuals from being members. Although they agreed and discharged him as a "security risk", they also declared him a "Lifelong Friend of the People" in recognition of his many years of service.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=159}}<ref name="workers">{{Cite news |last=Feinberg |first=Leslie |url=http://www.workers.org/2005/us/lavender-red-40/ |title=Harry Hay: Painful partings |date=June 28, 2005 |work=Workers World |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015105/http://www.workers.org/2005/us/lavender-red-40/ |archive-date=September 30, 2007}}</ref> Hay's relationship with Gernreich ended not long after, with Hay entering a relationship with Danish [[Hatmaking|hat-maker]] Jorn Kamgren in 1952; it would last for eleven years, during which Hay helped him establish a hat shop, attempting to use his contacts within the fashion and entertainment industries to get exposure for Kamgren's work and meeting with moderate success.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=169–170, 181–183}}

Mattachine's structure was based partly on that of the Communist Party and partly on fraternal brotherhoods like [[Freemasonry]]. Operating on the Leninist basis of [[democratic centralism]], it had cells, oaths of secrecy and five different levels of membership, each of which required greater levels of involvement and commitment. As the organization grew, the levels were expected to subdivide into new cells, creating the potential for both horizontal and vertical growth.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=151–152}}<ref>D'Emilio, p. 64</ref> The founding members constituted the "Fifth Order" and from the outset remained anonymous. Mattachine's membership grew slowly at first but received a major boost in February 1952 when founder Jennings was arrested in a Los Angeles park and charged with lewd behavior. Often, men in Jennings' situation would plead guilty to the charge and hope to quietly rebuild their lives. Jennings and the rest of the Fifth Order saw the charges as a means to address the issue of police [[entrapment]] of homosexual men. The group began publicizing the case under the name Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment, and the generated publicity brought financial support and volunteers. Jennings admitted during his trial to being a homosexual but insisted he was not guilty of the specific charge. The jury deadlocked (eleven to one in favor of acquittal), with the judge dismissing the charges; Mattachine declared victory.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=164–167}}<ref>D'Emilio, pp. 69–70</ref>

Following the Jennings trial, the group expanded rapidly, with founders estimating membership in California by May 1953 at over 2,000 with as many as 100 people joining a typical discussion group.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=170–171}} This brought greater scrutiny of the group, and in February 1953 a Los Angeles daily newspaper published an article exposing Hay as a Marxist; not wishing to tar the Society as a Communist group, Hay stepped down from his position.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=174}} The group's membership was diversifying, with people from a broader political spectrum becoming involved. Many members were concerned by the far left control of the group and felt that it should have a more open, democratic structure. At a group convention held in Spring 1953, [[Hal Call]] and other conservative members challenged the leaders to amend its constitution and to affirm that members were loyal to the United States and its laws. In an effort to preserve their vision of the organization, the Fifth Order members revealed their identities and resigned their leadership positions. With the founders gone, Call and other like-minded individuals stepped into the leadership void,{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=175–178}}<ref>Loughery, pp. 228–29</ref> and Mattachine officially adopted non-confrontation as an organizational policy. The reduced effectiveness of this newly organized Mattachine led to a precipitous drop in membership and participation.<ref>Hogan, et al., p. 383</ref> Hay was distraught at Mattachine's change in direction, having an emotional breakdown as a result.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=180}}