As for me ...

Mr. Ferrar of Oakland, California, has given us permission to use his name with the following typhoon of opinion. In the tradition of this section, he uses ONE as Nevada for his testy explosion-much to the delight of the editors who welcome such challenges from "the other side of the fence".

THIS MYSTERIOUS NAME

This is written in the hope your pages are open to opinions from non-homos and, what's more, critical non-homos. One of my brothers turned out to be "one of the boys" and, although I was a little ashamed of him sometimes, we got to be pretty close before he packed up and moved out of town. We write all the time and it was from him I got a copy of one of your recent issues. He wants me to keep posted on what gives on the other side of the fence and I guess you'll lift your eyebrows knowingly when I say I'm interested. But the main reason I mention my brother is because he gave me more of a chance to understand your situation than most people get. I personally don't think it's anybody's business what you people do privately. Publicly, it's something else again. And I realize that what the law concerns itself with with you, is only gossip and scandal when "normal" people do it. So, to my way of thinking, the physical part is beside the point.

But what I do think is important is how you people fit into society. My wife and I judge our "gay" friends the same way we do everyone else. And people are usually to be judged by petty little things: how they keep appointments, repay loans, hold to promises, whether they embarrass us in front of other friends, what they talk about, how they help out in a pinch, etc. All in all, how responsible they feel to the world. This applies to everybody no matter what they do in bed. Now, it seems to us that we either know the wrong "gay" people or most of you rate a little under average on some of these things. We know all right what a fight you have on your hands every minute of every day and how human it is to say, "The hell with the world!" when you feel you haven't got an even break. Still and all, this isn't the way people fight for their rights. They have to be better than average to prove they deserve those rights. It doesn't sound fair but that's the way it is and you've got to take up the challenge or go on eating crow.

The main point I'm working up to isn't as much the little ethical faults above as your attitude towards yourselves. From the motto of your magazine, it looks like you're fighting not just for rights but for special rights. The contents kind of insist you're all different through and through and deserve different considerations than other groups of people that haven't got full rights either. You set

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