Instance: Strong
Uranianism.
A common situation is shown in a letter to Ulrichs, from a married Uranian:
"… I am well married, and to a wife who loves me passionately, and I am the father of a charming two-year old girl. But what I feel for my wife is friendship. Circumstances other than love made our match. At the mere sight of a handsome young man, I instantly feel that passionate sexual excitement (which is the only really sexual one for me) so genuinely, that since my youngest years, I have always felt the most ardent wish that marriages between men were possible. I long in vain for the man whom I secretly love. Think of it! I have never loved, I can never love, a woman! I am forced to appease my impulse, the masculine ideal in my mind"… etc. etc.
Marriage as a
Useful Screen, on
Occasion.
Dread of disgrace is often the direct cause of an Uranian's marriage. The fact that he is honourably and normally united to a woman, is perhaps the father of children, and is a model husband outwardly, are sufficient details of social protection. Many a young Uranian has avoided thus the lightning-flash of social disgrace. It has been remarked that when a homosexual scandal occurs in a social.clique, a club or an army-circle, an epidemic of engagements and weddings can be looked-for. The precipitancy of such marriages is excused by all manner convenient fables. The fiancée—or the bride—is generally the last individual to suspect just why her hand has been asked. A clever man, a shrewd Uranian, a refined idealist readily convinces a sentimental woman of an admiration for her—hitherto a secret. A few years ago, in an American city, a similisexual scandal
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