Mattachine Society Harassment Charged, Evening Star (Article, November 1963)

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Mattachine Society Harassment Charged

A representative of the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union has contended that proposed amendments to the District Charities Solicitation Act were prepared for "no other apparent reason than to harass the Mattachine Society."

Mrs. Zona Hostetler, a member of the ACLU's lawyers' panel, said yesterday at a public hearing that the amendments would make it necessary for the Mattachine Society, an organization formed to advance the civil rights of homosexuals, to apply for a new certificate to solicit funds.

The Society had been registered under the Charitable Solicitation Act to collect funds, but gave up its certificate after it learned that organizations collecting $1,500 a year or less did not have to register.

One of the proposed amendments would eliminate the present exemption for organizations collecting $1,500 a year or less.

The proposed amendments were also opposed by Mrs. Ernest Howard, president of the Columbia Heights Citizens Association, and by William Thomas, first vice president of the D.C. Federation of Civic Associations.

Robert Kneipp, Assistant Corporation Counsel, who conducted the public hearing, took the testimony under advisement and said he would make a recommendation to the District Commissioners in about three weeks.