LETTERS

The Great Reticence

Gentlemen:

As a reader-to-be I would like to comment on the fact that almost every statement or publication dealing with the topic of homosexuality, except those whose specific concern it is, tends to omit the feminine aspect of the subject. Gide was the cardinal offender in this respect. The reason for this is somewhat obscure, but perhaps has something to do with the great reticence of the women themselves. Reticence, however, does not imply disinterest on their part, nor does it call for neglect on the part of those engaged in the illumination of others. Women, it seems to me, are as interested and numerous as the male audience.

Enclosed Please Find Dear Friends:

Bronxville, New York

I decided that perhaps the most welcome contribution I could make towards your February issue would be the enclosed check. I feel sure you can put it to good use. I shall look" forward eagerly to the February issue. Bonne chance!

Very Complex Oedipus Dear Sirs:

New York City

I am enclosing money for a subscription to ONE magazine. It is not for me but for my mother who needs it more than I do.

Short Story Gentlemen:

Oakland, Calif.

Everything (of a positive nature) that I'd like to say about your magazine has already been said, so I'll have to settle for a short but sincere phrase. I like ONE-I think it's a tremendously promising publication and hope it thrives.

The Quiet Ones

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Frankly I am somewhat disappointed with your magazine. I have studied and searched hoping to find something concerning the female homosexual with very meager results. Aren't women people, too? Your magazine is not much help.

Decaturville, Tennessee

We Must Be Strong

Dear Friends:

I take this opportunity to commend you for your courage in beginning and continuing in your publication of a much needed magazine. If I were located in your section of the country, I would gladly give as much of my free time to aiding you as you could use. If there is anything I can do, at a distance, please feel free to write and ask me. The cause you are fighting is mine, also, and I feel my share of the responsibility very strongly.

I am a little puzzled by all the commotion being made over the use of one's proper name. When you give in to the pronounced shame others would like to put upon you, you can not but cheapen yourself to some extent. Hiding is an admission of guilt; fear is weakness; and we, of all people must be strong if we are ever to win this fight.

So if we are still a free enough country to allow a writer the right to be published in any publication he desires, by all means if you decide to publish any of my manuscripts you may use my name. Society cannot cheapen the honesty of my emotions unless I allow it to do sohave no intention of letting this happen. New York City

The Best Place to Gripe Dear ONE:

Nothing makes me madder than people who are prejudiced against abnormal sex in any shape or form, and I think the main cause for this is downright ignorance. It would astound you to hear some of the things some of the people I've talked about homosexuality to have come up with! To think that homosexuals are communists, as some people do, is certainly strange, but I've heard even better ones than that! So it seems to me, more important than any fiction, is to give the people the facts. If your magazine is on the stands in the States, a good percentage of readers must be normals who seem to know hardly nothing about the subject, and sure could use the knowledge. Nothing seems to spread hate faster than ignorance.

If I may give my comment on your subject matter here, I think James Barr's story, "Death in a Royal Family," fell way short of his usual high quality writing. Even though it was only a short-short, comparing it with Quatrefoil, I can hardly believe it was the same author. I suppose this is an impossible request but I'd certainly like to know the author of "The Greenhouse," in the November issue. This story, in my opinion, was about the best you've published to date, and for weeks now I've been pondering who the author is.

one

page 26