“Does the ‘fairie’ or ‘fag’ really exist? This question has been asked time and again. There is no doubt |Does the Fairie Really Exist?| but that this type of degenerate is a reality. [Unprejudiced science has not yet decided the matter of the degeneracy of the androgyne in general, as I have already shown in detail. There exists as much evidence that the bisexual is a super-man or genius as that he or she is a degenerate. The truth of the matter probably is that degenerates are no commoner per thousand among bisexuals than among the sexually full-fledged, but that geniuses occur far oftener.] He is a freak of nature who in every way attempts to imitate a woman. In my official capacity I have come in contact with several hundred of such individuals, and have in every instance felt sorry for the unfortunate being. [Such sympathy indicates that fairies are not wilfully of that genre, and should not suffer term after term in prison, as now, for acts that do nobody harm beyond offending the æsthetic sense of the unsophisticated. Of course, in the matter of accosting on the street, etc., they should be treated the same as full-fledged females. But their punishment should not be augmented because they are “homosexuals”—a word that is a misnomer.]
“In practically every case I have found the man to be a young person of age ranging between sixteen and thirty. [“man”!—Only a pseudo-man. Really a woman whom Nature has disguised as a man; a woman with male genitals.]... They are by no means mental defectives. Most of them have had a good education and come from respectable families.... Since early childhood they have been seclusive and kept close to their mother. They are emotional and affective.... They ... imitate the female as closely as possible. They take feminine names, use perfume and dainty |Artificial Breasts.| stationery which frequently is scented, and in many instances they wear women’s apparel.
“Recently one of these individuals was arrested, charged with soliciting. When he [“he-she” would be the accurate pronoun] arrived in the city prison, he was searched, and on him were found ... artificial busts, a wig, and a box containing powder and rouge. This young man [“androgyne” would be the proper term] was twenty years of age. He was beardless [evidently natural], had an effeminate voice, and a distinctly feminine walk. He lisped and in speech closely approached a bashful female.... He ... had graduated ... from high-school.... He ran away from home and met some boys [“girl-boys” would be the proper term] whom he considered good company. These young men [“androgynes” would be the proper term] were of the same type as he.... In this way [after a fashion, taking the place of the female of the species], [he] made enough money to live.
“These individuals ... often occupy handsomely furnished apartments which are paid for by men who patronize them. As a rule several ‘fags’ occupy an apartment. On one occasion ten such individuals were arrested in a raid by the police.... I had an opportunity to observe them closely. In every respect they resembled the female. The names they used in calling one another were feminine.... They had a typical feminine walk.... [Because androgyne legs are sometimes those of a woman.]
“I can distinctly recall two cases which occurred quite recently.... The first ... was arrested for soliciting and was sent to the female prison. This person had wonderful hair which reached to the waist, |Legal Persecution of Androgynes.| and it was not false. His face was as smooth as a woman’s [naturally beardless evidently], his voice was distinctly feminine, and his hands and feet were small. He wore high-heeled shoes. In examining this person the matron insisted that he strip. The prisoner refused, and thereupon I was notified to make an examination.... When questioned, he stated that he preferred to dress as a female because he found that he was effeminately inclined.... He was sent to the workhouse, and after serving his time was released. Several months later I learned that he had again been arrested for a similar offence. This time he wore a wig in addition to the feminine garb. [Because during his prior imprisonment, he had, under pressure, consented to have his hair cut short, like a man, and promised to live henceforth as a man—a promise hard to keep since “he” was psychicly, and in part physically, a female.]
“The next case ... was arrested.... When taken to the female prison, he refused to allow the matron to search him.... I was called in. I found that the prisoner wore a wig and artificial breasts. Every bit of his attire was feminine.... The voice and mannerisms were distinctly effeminate....
“Many of the so-called ‘social elite’ are to be included among these people....” [“Many” only in the aggregate. Proportionately, only about one out of one-hundred-and fifty men. But the ratio is probably higher among the cultured than among manual laborers. They are not at all blameworthy, because they were born with the strongest kind of instincts in that direction, and do not thereby harm in the least any individual or society as a whole. They carefully keep their idiosyncrasy under cover.]
Medical Writers on Androgynism.
II. What One of America’s Foremost Medical Writers Has to Say about Fairies.
Dr. Robert W. Shufeldt, author of Studies in the Human Form, has included at least one fairie among the many human beings the results of his physical examination of whom he has published. The following are excerpts from his valuable and interesting article, Biography of a Passive Pederast, in the October, 1917, issue of the American Journal of Urology and Sexology. I use my own spelling of “fairie.” My comments are in brackets. Those interested should read the entire original article. Particularly two photographs of the subject are given, one nude and the other in full feminine garb.