not too sympathetic with the kind of deviate who does go there and just asks for trouble with the law. The column, "tangents" claims to be a "forthright spokesman for homosexuals." Maybe so. But what KIND of homosexuals? Not many of us are interested in the kind you write about in "tangents." They do nothing for us but put us in a bad light with society. Let us hear about homosexuals that behave for a change. Cut out your column, "tangents"-we're tired of hearing about people who are constantly in legal trouble-primarily because they ask for it!
Now that I have sufficiently vented my spleen on the subject, you probably wonder what I DO want from your mag. Do I want a magazine full of sweetness and light, a pollyannish ostrich in the sand sort of thing? Absolutely not! I do not wish to delete controversial subjects from your magazine, nor to hide the hard realities of life from your readers. I just want a POSITIVE APPROACH! Is THIS too much to ask? You do not have to serve up finished answers-hell's bells, even the psychiatrists don't always have those. But you do have to serve up articles, stories and poetry with a more mature, searching and sincere attitude and which, at least, offer some sort of positive opinions to this great unknown land of homosexuality.
Specifically one of the best series of article I can imagine are personal success stories, either written by the person themselves or about someone whom they know well. Articles which tell how homosexuals have successfully met the challenge of society, of their own love life, of their jobs, or whatever other difficulties they might have known, which involved somehow their homosexuality. Let us hear about people who have SUCCEEDED at homosexuality, and delete all sob stories from your magazine as you would the plague!
And for heaven's sakes, do something about your stories and poetry also. The literary quality is almost impossible and is only excelled by the infantile quality of same. Cut out writing about highly masculine women and sissy menwe're sick of that too! No wonder the public thinks that's all there are in this business. Even when you attempt to write about a feminine woman and a masculine man. it doesn't ring true. They sound like imitations of the real thing.
Your first question to all this is, of course. "Where do we start to get such articles. stories, or poetry? We beg and we beg." you say, "for manuscripts and nobody writes anything?" Do you know WHY they don't write anything? Because you haven't inspired them to do so. As for why you don't get more and better articles from doctors, etc., what self respecting doctor would ever dare be published in your juvenile and whimpering magazine-even posthumously? You have to MOTIVATE people to write for you, both readers of homosexual or heterosexual bent by first putting out a magazine ON YOUR OWN which will sufficiently merit their interest and respect.
So it looks like you people down there at the editor's desk are just going to have to rack your brains and produce something of first rate calibre first. and THEN I'll bet you'll see a few results coming in from your readers!
If I still didn't care about you. I wouldn't even bother to write this. But I DO still care.
So get busy and put out a magazine with some life in it. You've been dead long enough!!!!
Geraldine Jackson
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