The question is this: Must we give Mr. A.X. credit for prophecy as well as for cold good sense? Or may we admit the truth of much of what he says and try to avoid the pitfalls he so clearly points out? Surely the men responsible for the excellent June issue of ONE should have enough critical acuity to smell out trash even when it comes from a contributor whose previous efforts have been worthy of serious consideration.

Not that Mr. A.X. is himself on wholly solid ground. Good, even great, fiction about homosexuals has been and is being written; you need only consult Mr. Corey's recent short-story anthology 21 Variations on a Theme for proof of that. And such fiction is not limited to a

sexual theme; there is more to a homosexual's life than the fact that he prefers to go to bed with someone of the same gender. Mr. A.X. says that the homosexual has no civil rights. True; isn't this a subject for fiction? He says that the homosexual is forced to be a complete and utter coward by virtue of the necessity of constant caution. Maybe so; why not write about that? An honest story, deeply felt and expertly written, can have more impact than columns of statistics. Mr. Freeman has felt deeply and written pulp. Perhaps others, with more talent, can feel deeply and write literature.

Homosexuals are human beings. Human beings are worth it! J. A., Los Angeles

King Agamemnon answered: "Before you all I will proclaim what I have to offer Achilles. Seven tripods untouched by the fire, ten ingots of gold, twelve horses. And I will give seven women skillful in women's work, Lesbians, the most beautiful women in the world . . . and I will honor him equally with my own son, Orestes, my well beloved son who is now at home living in wealth and luxury. And seven flourishing cities will I give to him."

Homer's Illiad translated by W. H. D. Rouse

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