Letters

Under no circumstances do the Editors forward letters from readers to other persons nor do they answer correspondence making such requests.

COMMENTS ON CONTENTS

Dear Sirs:

Just a few lines to compliment you on one of the best issues ever. Three especially fine items (November, 1961) were "A Matter of Language, by Marcel Martin; "A Beginning," by Arcades Ambo; "A Blueprint for Partnership," by Jim Egan.

On this language bit: marriage is a treacherous word for us and we are almost entirely lacking in good words to describe an attractive man. Cute is a terrible word. Just one liftle complaint though. It seems to me that sometimes you folks get a bit carried away and include something that just isn't sensible. Like that thing on "Homosexual Procreation' (March, 1961). Then currently you tuck in "Letters" that bit of nonsense about chins. To print such a thing seems to to be against our purposes.

Friends:

Mr. W. Houston, Texas

Enjoyed "A Matter of Language" and "Blueprint for Partnership," but I take offense at Mr. Martin's scorn of gay language. Every culture must have its jargon in order to communicate. Mr. Martin may be using gay terms loosely and may not understand them.

In a gay marriage "She" is understood to mean the wife or fem partner. This is certainly not insulting if one has accepted himself and finds that he is fem and attracted to men who are butch.

A true "Queen" is one who has completely accepted himself as fem but prefers to remain single, completely avoiding a stable relationship with anyone.

Anyone who can't accept these terms must be terribly disturbed and should find out the cause. It may be that he doesn't know what he is. I realize that many people express no sex preference, but deep down all of us gay folks fit into butch or fem.

I am proud to be gay and don't care what society thinks. Why must we have a language which conforms with society? After all, we are set apart and I feel that we should relax and enjoy the separation. Mr. G. Brooklyn, New York

Dear Friends:

ONE deserves many thanks for printing Marcel Martin's "A Matter of Language." It was not only thought-provoking, interesting and informative, but also very useful to those of us who take our homosexuality seriously.

Too many of us are content with a simple and vague acceptance of our own homosexuality. In the act of coming out" we also consciously ally ourselves to the vast numbers of others like us, and ironically, we are our own worst enemies.

Certainly, if all of us find some things in the gay world undesirable, disgusting or distasteful, how can we blame the heterosexual who reacts in the same manner at these things? If we really want to change. the mind of heterosexual society many of us. must first begin by changing ourselves.

Since all of us cannot attend homophile seminars nor make full use of the services of ONE Institute the pages of the Magazine would seem to be the first step in any national exchange of serious thought. Mr. A. Burlington, Vermont

Brothers:

Being an English teacher may I offer one word regarding Marcel Martin's "A Matter of Language"? Webster gives us the term "urning" as synonymous with homosexual. This word is rarely seen or heard in common usage, but it is available in black and white in any unabridged dictionary.

Mr. Y.

North Carolina