Homosexual Marriage ---FACT OR FANCY?

Jim Egan

In the Feb./59 issue of ONE appears a letter from a Mr. E. of Bombay, India. I read it with much sympathy for the burden of its song was a sadly familiar theme and for those who may have missed it, I quote the final paragraph—“Is there no such thing as a reasonably stable attachment which, to a large extent precludes promiscuity on the part of either party? Is the union or fusion of sex and love so inherently non-homosexual? Is there no hope for those of us to whom deep bonds of friendship and love are as important as sex? Is this need to belong to your loved one, this need and hunger to have filled the emotional vacuum within so peculiar, so rare and so completely contrary to the average homosexual constitution and way of life?"

I fear that many of ONE's readers will be inclined to answer categorically "No," "Yes," "No," and "Yes"--and no doubt would do so with good reason having tried one or many times to establish a permanent relationship and seen, in the end, the crumbling of all they had worked so hard to build up. Thus, I can appreciate their point of view (up to a point) but am afraid that I cannot agree

with them.

I have given much thought to Mr. E's questions and I think I can best answer them for him by telling him something about some of our gay friends. I write "our" because after 11 years my friend and I rarely say "my"—everythingincluding friends, is "ours."

Most of the couples that we know have been together for from one or two to over forty years. As far as I know, without trespassing the bounds of friendship, these relationships are almost all monogamous. If one or two are not entirely so it makes but small difference, for the boys' devotion to each other could not be weakened by a rare "adventure."

E. and K. both have good jobs in the city at the present time. Their ultimate ambition, however, is to own and operate a small farm and they have been working and saving toward this goal for some years. Last fall they acquired 50 acres, a barn and an old stone farm-house-the house in need of immediate and extensive repairs. They leave the city on Friday evenings and spend every week-end working their way through an extensive list of re-building and renovations. The effort involved would dismay most-if the dirt and discomfort did not-but working together helps to forge the bonds of love and friendship and side by side they are achieving something that each alone would find impossible.

J. and C. met as two young soldiers during the first World War. They have recently retired to a small town to pursue their well-earned leisure. When the war ended they managed to scrape up a down-payment on a few barren sea-coast acres of land. Starting with little capital, but unbounded enthusiasm and imagination, they built a two-roomed shack-enlarged over the years into a gracious home. The grounds were landscaped with rock-gardens, evergreens and dozens of different types of flowering shrubs. Along the high land overlooking the ocean they built

-one at a time as finances permitted-12 tourist cabins. Their business prospered with the advancing years and soon both were able to give up outside jobs and devote full time to the tourists. The younger of the partners began a correspondence with me after reading in 1955 in an American magazine, an article

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