Rene Guyon Society

A Senate investigative committee determined that "... the Rene Guyon Society is widely known by most investigators as a one-man propaganda operation whose membership claims are not credible." The organization attracted coverage Los Angeles alternative press as early as 1965, and filed amicus briefs in several court cases, before achieving national notoriety in Congressional hearings in 1977 during the great kiddie porn panic. The Los Angeles police, which had a dedicated child exploitation task force, concluded that it was "little more than one flamboyant pedophile" after placing that man under surveillance.(ibid, p.25) However, the organizer's exaggerated claims were widely repeated in the press for over a decade before the committee debunked them in 1986, but like much fake news, the claims had acquired a life of their own, especially the short, rhyming slogan. The Meese Report still cited the Rene Guyon Society as credible, the same year the Senate investigation dismissed it.

Debunked by 1986 Senate Investigation

The 1986 Senate Investigative Subcommittee set out its reasons for finding the Rene Guyon society to be tiny at most:

THE RENE GUYON SOCIETY

Due to its inflammatory slogan "Sex Before Eight, or Else It's Too Late" the Rene Guyon Society of Beverly Hills, California, has become widely publicized in news articles about pedophiles. Having taken its name from a French psychiatrist and associate of Sigmund Freud, the Rene Guyon Society claims 5,000 supporters, including psychiatrists, parents, and physicians.¹⁰⁰ But Det. William Dworin of the Los Angeles Police Department told the Subcommittee this is a wildly inflated figure, and the organization is probably little more than one flamboyant pedophile's attempt to gain national attention. Dworin said police surveillance of the group's eccentric leader, "Tim O'Hara" whose real name is Jonathan Evan Edwards indicates that he does not have regular contact with children and that the amount of correspondence he receives hardly seems indicative of an organization with 5,000 supporters.¹⁰¹ Edwards, 64, strongly advocates sex with children and publishes an irregular newsletter ...

¹⁰⁰ Letter to Subcommittee from "Tim O'Hara," spokesman for the Rene Guyon Society; Beverly Hills, CA, Nov. 80, 1984.

¹⁰¹ Subcommittee staff interview, March 1985.

Despite that determination, an Internet search will find many discussions well into the 21st century treating the Rene Guyon society as more than one man, based on the expansive claims of Tim O'Hara during earlier Congressional investigations.

Alternative press coverage

The first published mention of the Rene Guyon Society is a classified ad in the Los Angeles Free Press on its last two editions of 1965 reads in its entirety, "The Rene Guyon Society 406 South Second Street Alhambra, California". The Alhamabra address now holds the County of Los Angeles's "Discovery Time Children's Center". The East Village Other, in a February 1967 article asks, "Is California setting the lead for the world in general, and for America in particular, in regard to the instituting of new sex mores?", and goes on to laud California climate as "... almost ideal for year-round sex. Rolling in the hay is usually a hell of a lot more fun than rolling in snowdrifts." The article names "the Rene Guyon Society" along with two other "libertarian organizations".

The Rene Guyon Society reappeared in the Los Angeles Free Press a little over three years later, with an amicus curiae brief (which the court rejected) in the case of Sirhan Sirhan, arguing that his assassination of Robert F. Kennedy was due to psychiatric issues and that "...it felt the defendant Sirhan Bishar a Sirhan was a victim of sexual unwisdom. Ten requests [...] were listed, including a request that Sirhan be analyzed by Freudian psychiatrists or sexological psychologists that the Amicus would furnish; and that the defendant be made a ward of the Guyon Society for five years."

In 1970, the society appears on page two of the Los Angeles Free Press, (sandwiched between "M.D. on Manson's Sex Life" on the cover, and to the right, "Chicago Conspiracy trial: Bill Kunstler denounces Daley") as a photo and caption: "Mrs. Patti Brown, 19, of Santa Monica, a supporter of the Rene Guyon Society, stands silent vigil with a cross, protesting [...] [A]dults inside the Santa Monica Courthouse are being prosecuted for 'providing sexual relief' to two children. The Legal Committee of the Guyon Society is proffering amicus briefs in the cases regarding the oral copulation, masturbation and delinquency contributing charges." The photo shows that the Rene Guyon Society has at least one supporter other than its founder.

The Berkeley Barb has two articles devoted to the Gunyon Society in its August 20-26, 1971 issue. In the lower, Don Jackson writes about the Rene Gunyon Society's attempt to "to amend me Brown Bill (Assembly Bill 437) to completely repeal the laws against sodomy, oral copulation, copulation with minors and masturbation. All of these acts are felonies under present laws." The article concludes with, "Another immediate impact of the reform bill would be collapse of the anti-sex industry, a major industry employing an estimated 100,000 people in California. The Rene Guyon Society is a sexual freedom group of 422 Los Angeles County families. It militates for equal rights for children," and gives the Alhambra address.(ibid)

The upper article on the page, "Guyon Society - Kids’ Sexlib", is illustrated with what looks like a page from a sketchbook, showing five children, and may not now be legal in all jurisdictions. A preschool girl hangs by her knees from playground equipment, her skirt falling down to show she's not wearing panties; two sketches show toddlers, a boy and a girl, both nude and masturbating; the last sketch shows a somewhat older boy and girl, clothed and together, he's lying on his back and she's sitting on his face, which is covered by her skirt. A marginal sketch beside the byline ("Armando Coleslaw") shows a toddler on his feet, leaning forward on his head, he is nude and shown from the rear. The reporter says, "... we sent for The Rene Guyon Society’s literature. I wanted to give you more information from their literature and some of my comments." The literature includes a reprinted article, "Only 5 of 102 Pedophiles Who Received Treatment Convicted Again, Court Hears Also Children ‘Not Harmed’ by Pedophilia". The reporter mentions "A lengthy research paper: “Guyon: of Sex and Children” for some guy’s master's degree in sociology", but gives neither author nor university.

Mr. Coleslaw observes:

Ideas later to be embraced by a conformistic society often start out in small, semi-secret groups. Nudity is another example. The latest thing is to go skinny-dipping at Wreck Beach, UBC, but how many know that nudist clubs have been fighting for the right to live their philosophy for decades.(ibid)

On the size of the society, Coleslaw says, "Organization and office-keeping of the Rene Guyon Society seems to be a one-man operation. This guy in Alhambra, California keeps the members’ names confidential, gathers and sends the literature and writes the bulletin."(bis) He actually interviewed three people:

In all, three “swinging” families—friends of the Guyon Society - were interviewed by telephone. Two of the interviewees (husbands) described their experiences as families participating with other families in sexual recreation which involved the children as well as the adults. One man explained that he and his wife had been introduced to the idea of sharing sex with their children by another couple with whom they had been mate-exchanging for several months.(ibid)

The interviewees were described as "friends of" rather than "members of" the society. But counting them, and assuming the Rene Gunyon Society gives children full membership, one child per couple, plus Tim O'Hara, plus three people inside and outside the Santa Monica court in 1970 (who if convicted would likely be unavailable for interview in less than several years), that brings the presumed membership up to thirteen.(ibid) That upgrades the Society from a one-man operation, to a swingers' club with a newsletter.

1977 Congressional Investigations

House Subcommittee on Select Education

This House subcommittee held hearings in Los Angeles on May 27 and 28, 1977, and heard Tim O'Hara, spokesman of the Rene Guyon society, so allowing him to insert some of his claims into the Congressional record.

Mr.O'HARA. Good morning. Tim O'Hara is a pseudonym. I have been through two assassination attempts, but not on this particular matter. I don't think I could get through a third one, so I have to be very careful getting into controversial subjects.

[...]

Our organization has been going for 12½ years. We originally started with parents, seven sets of parents and one adult female who was a single lady. They asked me to run this organization because they felt that knowledge about child sexuality was not being expressed or turned into law, that the law was actually 100 years behind the times. And I found that that is true. The legal profession is 67 years behind what is two doors down the street at the Neuropsychiatrict Institute.

We are sort of an unauthorized affiliate of the American Psychiatric Association. We don't want to say that we represent them, but I noticed that none of the 20,000 members of it were here, although they are so close.

[...]

Our parents, in the Guyon Society, of which we have about 5,000 supporters over all the States, felt that these new films which were coming on the market, were the dawn of a new age free of body guilt, and that present law which restricts such films violates the first amendment church-state separation requirement, because the church, since 400 A.D., has said that the human body and especially children's human bodies and child sexuality is a no-no, a nastiness. St. Augustine developed this in 400 A.D. out of thin air. He did not claim divine inspiration.

[...]

It seems that this well-intentioned legislation really will be a godsend to the Mafia because it will keep the legitimate movie producers out of this type of sexual operation, the child sex films, because the legitimate movie producers do not want to get arrested. But that doesn't faze the Mafia or any of the other people who feel that prohibition is a godsend to them.

The question is, will Jody Foster be arrested in her latest film, "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane"? She appears bare breasted, although her back is to the camera. What is next in the Jody Foster film? Will she be arrested if this proposed and well-intentioned law goes through?

[...]

Oh. I didn't mention that also we feel that this Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber may be using Government and foundation funds. We offered to provide her with some money, and she had no way to take donations. So we are just wondering if she is violating section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code which prohibits the use of Government funds or foundation funds to drum up legislation. Her idea is to create a Cabinet post on child matters.

[...]

Mr. MILLER. Thank you. The committee will now hear Melba Walton from the National Organization for Women.

Mr. O'Hara, would you mind taking down your display? I am afraid the gun will go off.

Mr. O'Hara's testimony ranges from the perceptive, as when he points out the difficulty in drawing the line between child nudity in mainstream films and in 12-minute loops, or when he questions whether there isn't something a bit off about Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber, to the apparently unhinged, as in the opening of his statement and Rep. Miller's closing request.

House Subcommittee on Crime

The House Subcommittee on Crime held hearings on what Tim O'Hara referred to with fair accuracy as "HR 3913, the child sex film bill" in a letter asking subcommittee chairman Rep. John Conyers, Jr., to be allowed to testify in Los Angeles, and setting out the "Rene Guyon Society's" program. He claimed a 12-year history for it that was otherwise unsubstantiated, but made no claim on the number of members. The letter is dated Beverly Hills, Calif., June 13, 1977, and signed by Tim O'Hara. Given that he was not called by the committee, he was not questioned, and his claims and positions were not cross-examined.

Enclosed you will find the requested written outline or draft of what would be the substance of our statement for testimony.

The outline may not be understandable word-by-word but gives a sampling of where our testimony derives its stands and the many sources of our research. It is the result of 12 years and the input from at least 100 scholars, many of them repeated themselves because it seems the stand of the Guyon Society existed decades before it was formed by a group of 7 married couples and one single lady 12 years ago. [...] we have not invested in a physical office nor a telephone. [...]

There follows an "OUTLINE OF THE 40-MINUTE LECTURE BY RENE GUYON SOCIETY JUNE 7, 1977"

It begins with a timeline including such events as

• "1912—Adds Bisexuality. Dr. Carl Jung remains puritanical";
• "1947—Dead Sea Scrolls found and translated"; and
• "1964—Guyon Society Formed; Finland legalizes boy-boy sodomy."

Among the proposed "Benefits to Nation if H.R. 3913 and H.R. 4571 are defeated:"

• "Alcoholism and drug use would decline and disappear."
• "Highways would become safer."

Mr. O'Hara does ask a prescient question about the finances of Odyssey House:

• "1977—Dr. Densen-Gerber, apparently sole psychiatrist, stirs the uninformed. Is she illegally financed?"

Additional Sources

A Subject file on the Rene Guyon Society is in the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California. The file is not online and the catalog gives no description of its size.