characterized by ignorance and cruelty our fight must not be relaxed. The kind of persecution carried on in Michigan seems more typical of the Dark Ages than of the supposedly enlightened twentieth century. It constitutes a dark blot on our "civilization" and can hardly encourage patriotism!
Dear ONE:
Dr. E.
MICHIGAN
I think Helen Sanders (October, 1958) is all wet in her reply to Hollister Barnes. Her's is the usual defensive attitude taken by homosexuals of the professional middle class, of trying to fit us into the status quo of frozen family relationships and quiet social conformity. No one in their right minds, least of all Mr. Barnes, wants to stop the propagation of the human species, or to interfere with the "normals" having their own sex pattern. But anyone sensitive to the stresses and tensions of the contemporary man's personality makeup is forced to look around for avenues for relieving the alienated condition and for finding an emotional milieu more congenial to relaxed social intercourse.
It's smack bang into the holy convention of our sacred family institution our well-wisher will first stumble, finding that it excludes much that is human as well as a large part of the human family who do not fit the pattern, or find it intellectually stifling. I figure family bonds will have to loosen considerably before humanity will gain ready access to all its resources of human creativity.
All of our most sacred conventions of what is the most desirable emotional climate for the child to mature in are going to have to be called into sharp question, but soon, if a sane world is to be our heritage to bequeath to future generations.
Dear Sirs:
Mr. S.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Allow me while renewing my subscription to congratulate you on the victory you won in the Supreme Court over the Los Angeles Postmaster, regarding the mailing of your publication. It is a decision which, although it may have had some influence within the U. S., has, I assure you made some impression here, as it has contributed to renew confidence in the ideal of liberty in your country.
I can't say how much I agree with the letter from Fort Worth, Texas (October, 1958). Put a little spice into it. Insert one or two humorous articles and some comic drawings. A good laugh does do such a lot of good, and helps the rest down more easily!
Mr. B. PARIS, FRANCE
Dear ONE:
Bravos to ONE for such extraordinary progress. Betimes, some of its contents make me feel ill, of course, but more often I find myself cheering instead. The editorials are particularly remarkable, the book reviews refreshingly honest, and the Letters are the most poignant cross-section of homosexuality I could ever expect to see printed.
Some of these years I aspire to do something of value for ONE. Meantime, I will subscribe, and share, and try to be a decent member of the brotherhood . .
Dear Mr. Lambert:
Mr. M.
TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI
At the end of my third year as a subscriber I wish to express gratitude not only for myself but for the circle of friends who read my copy. of ONE when I was in Belgium, most of whom. were Flemish. They compared it favorably with the other European homophile magazines.
Let me say how surprised I was to read in your Editorial (November, 1958) the name of Tijl Uilenspiegel, the Flemish legendary and homosexual hero of the Middle Ages. He remains the living symbol in our hearts of cour ageous and humorous non-conformity.
Gentlemen:
Mr. D.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
During the past few months, the courtesy and generosity of a subscriber has made it possible for me to read ONE with deepest and most profound interest. Each and every one of us, scattered as we undoubtedly are all over the globe are grateful for the brave and unceasing efforts that ONE is making towards a rational and human understanding of our cause. In this utter darkness that I find all around me, ONE seems to bring the only ray of light, but so terribly remote and farremoved from this present-day modern mysticpuritanical India.
Quite apart from the law, which is as harsh in this country as it exists in yours or the United Kingdom, the tragedy here is not only the appallingly strong social and religious prejudice, but an almost complete lack of awareness of the very existence of the problem. In modern, large and cosmopolitan cities like Bombay, and amongst families and social groups of Indo-Western and Western educational standards, the mere reference to homosexuality-let alone an academic discussion of it is strictly taboo. There is no reasonably decent place where one can remove this stifling mask; though I'm quite certain that thousands of unknowns like me, in this very city, must be labouring for breath as I do some too zealous in guarding their "abominable" secret; others still making desperate attempts towards
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