store two books than a pile of magazines. Plus, finding a particular article would be far easier than going through a couple dozen copies.

Dear ONE:

Anon. New York, N. Y.

I think it is high time that someone, such as those of your staff, stepped forward into the world of unrealistic social standards and tried to educate the public to the fineness of the beliefs of the Gay population, so that some day it will be accepted rather than scorned.

I am 23 years old and I am Gay. Of this fact I am very proud, as I am sure many others are also. The public has an incorrect opinion of Gay Life. They feel that homosexuality is sexual relationship alone. This, of course, is not true. Homosexuality is love, togetherness, the feeling of being one, of two people being together as a whole-the same as in a socalled normal sexual pattern.

My love is extended to you of ONE's staff, and to the hundreds of Gay people who are fighting for our beliefs and freedom and for the place of honor which is rightfully ours in the world today.

Dear Mr. Pedersen:

Mr. D. Ogden, Utah

I wish that I were able to send more tangible encouragement than words and a pittance. I confess to have wondered at your group and its perseverance. The Magazine has so improved it seems heartless to mention. a phenomenon I've pondered: the almost total absence of humor, or the discussion of humor. I think there is meat for a whole essay on the subject.

For instance, there is the aspect of the nature of existing humor which rather largely deals derisively with the homophile (there I've used your word) or is of a nature that invites. derision. At the moment I am not sure what tack might be taken. Has it ever been the subject of a panel? It is possibly ground too delicate to tread. It is possible that levity, regardless of its grooming, would be courting disaster in making a case for a social situation in which the evidence is mostly wounds and scars-on personalities which, ironically, are all too frequently not prepared or constituted to bear them.

Dear Editors of ONE:

Mr. S. Washington, D. C.

I wish that I could reflect in my personal life as ONE does in its format and editorial policy a positive, healthy and hopeful attitude

one

toward homosexuality. I wish that I could maintain, as ONE does, that loyality, devotion and mutual respect exist between homosexuals, rather than in isolated. exceptional cases as I have, unfortunately and most despairingly found the situation to be.

May you always be able to continue your espousal of our minority group.

Dear ONE:

Mr. K.

Coatesville, Pennsylvania

I am sorry that I did not see two anonymous contributions to ONE earlier so that I could have commented on them when they were still fresh in people's minds. ("I Pass,' June-July, 1956; "As For Me," February, 1957).

In this age of science, we, as products of our time and place tend unconsciously to put too much emphasis on science and logic. Logically, rationally, I suppose I could find symptoms of neurosis in "I Pass." I could possibly make a case for the fact that if the anonymous author could pass as a Caucasian he is doing right, since technically, "being Negro, is a matter of physical characteristics which if nearly absent, make the individual more "white" than Negro.

But these issues are beside the point. The thing that is important is the way the author feels. And the thing that is important about Mr. H's letter is the way he feels. The important thing is love. As long as there are people who are able to feel as do these two people there is hope for the human race. When feelings such as these are no longer felt, or can no longer be verbalized or publicized, humanity is doomed to a rapid decline.

I feel that it is particularly fortuitous that these documents found their way into ONE. There is so much hostility, and so much "science" (so often inconsistent with itself) connected with homosexuality-both from within and from without the group-which ONE quite honestly reflects in its reportage, articles, and its generally rather mediocre fiction, that the attitudes reflected in these two letters are of unusual importance to all who read your Magazine.

What I am trying to say, in my rather pompous and verbose way, is that I feel that these are two of the most important documents that have appeared in your pages. The one, a plea of and for love, is possibly unsound by some scientific standards, but is given a tremendous validity (if for no other reason) by its response, a nearly flawless (in content) "love-letter" from a bartender in a little town in Long Island who can't write well, who is "straight." I think that because of their important human significance they should be reprinted together in a future issue of ONE. Mr. B.

New York, N. Y.