One, Inc. v. Olesen

One, Inc. v. Olesen was a historical decision for LGBT rights in the United States. ONE, Inc., a spinoff of the Mattachine Society, published the early pro-gay "ONE: The Homosexual Magazine" beginning in 1953. After a campaign of harassment from the United States Postal Service and FBI, the Postmaster of Los Angeles declared the October, 1954 issue obscene therefore unmailable under the Comstock laws.

The magazine sued. The first court decision (March 1956) sided with the post office, as did the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (February 1957). To the surprise of all concerned, an appeal to the Supreme Court was not only accepted, but citing its recent landmark decision in Roth v. United States the Court, in a terse per curiam decision, reversed the 9th Circuit without even waiting for oral arguments. This marked the first time the Supreme Court had explicitly ruled on homosexuality.