ABSTRACT
This is the opening address to the Third Annual Convention of the Mattachine Society. Ken Burns at this time had served the society as its chairman of the board for three years. The Mattachine Foundation was formed in 1953 by Harry Hay and was the first grassroots-level gay organization in the United States. The “stigma” Burns mentions refers to the 1953 characterization of Hay as a Marxist and the appearance of a member at large as an unfriendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The speech originally appeared in the August 1956 issue of the Mattachine Review.
