Letters

in solitary for damn near four months.

You can bet that from now on I'll be one of your staunchest supporters. The "dark age" witch hunters scream loudly, but you have shown great courage in standing up for our rights. As soon as I can get back on my feet you can count on me.

Mr. H.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO THE EDITORS FORWARD LETTERS FROM READERS TO OTHER PERSONS NOR DO THEY ANSWER CORRESPONDENCE MAKING SUCH REQUESTS.

Dear ONE:

I did not like the story "A Place to Go" (December, 1958). It reads too much like too many of my own experiences. In the letters you print I note that every now and again some reader refers to ONE Confidential. What is it? I'd like to know more about it. (ONE Confidential is a monthly newsletter sent to the "Friends of ONE," or voting and nonvoting Members of the Corporation-those who support the Corporation's work financially and in other ways. EDITOR.)

Have been interested in your comments about Police Chief Cleon Skousen. I heard that one of his "boys" had a very torrid date with a fellow in a bath house. Then donned his clothes and left. His partner did not know he was a policeman until he got dressed. The sad part is that this policeman would not hesitate to arrest his bed partner under different conditions, calling it "his duty."

Dear Sir:

Mr. W.

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

I have not forgotten ONE but I have been in jail. I had been arrested for attempting a "pick-up." When arrested I was threatened with bodily harm by the police, not allowed to contact a lawyer or to notify my parents. The judge was 'lenient" however. As there had been no sexual contact I was sentenced to only 364 days. I had to agree to surrender my driver's license, agree not to even own a car, have psychiatrist's treatment for a "cure," and be on five year's probation. Even after I agreed to all that the judge backed down and wouldn't release me.

An interesting sidelight was that while in jail I was in solitary confinement. One of the prisoners who brought me food was a "voodoo murderer" who cut off a thirteen-year-old boy's head to make a love potion. Being homosexual I was, naturally, more dangerous. So, to protect the other prisoners I was kept

Dear Sir:

I think that you are doing a terrific job of educating the public as to homosexuality. The colored people in the face of prejudice have gotten together to form a union (just as the United States itself once did) to fight this prejudice and they are defeating their enemies by getting laws passed. Why cannot all of the homosexuals do the same thing, form a union, collect funds and fight for legalization of this way of life-so long as they do not use violence and both parties are willing participants? All that it would take would be a few, good strong leaders to approach the Senators and Congressmen in Washington to sponsor such a bill. There is no reason to consider sex a crime, except our narrow-minded upbringing and training.

The only reason that I can see for homosexuality being scorned by the people is that the homosexual will not get up and fight for his ideas and beliefs. Until the colored people fought for their rights they got nowhere. The world is ready for a change but it will take funds and strong leadership to put it across. The great psychiatrists all agree that the sex laws are inadequate, having been written in olden times by superstitious, ill-informed. people.

Another thing that I think should be done is to stop the harrassment of homosexuals by the police. If a policeman knows of a homosexual, or one who has been arrested for a homosexual act, what is to stop him from blackmailing him for life? You should also fight to have all previous arrest records for homosexual acts removed from the records and destroyed so that a man will not have to be exposed to public ridicule when he goes to apply for a job. I believe the questionnaires for jobs which ask, "Have you ever been arrested?" are against a man's civil rights, and leave him wide open for blackmail. It would be at least better to change the question to, "Were you ever convicted of a crime?"

Nothing is gained without fighting for it. You will run into prejudice, but follow the example of various unions, such as the labor unions. With a union you can get the voting power and by showing the homosexuals who have done great things, and by using the writings of modern psychiatrists I don't see how you can lose. Mr. A.

UPPER DARBY, PENNSYLVANIA