Editors:
Behind in reading, but just had to tell you I thought Marcel Martin's editorial (September) was terrific. Also, Don Slater's editorial (October) gives good advice. I know from personal experience.
Mr. J. Seattle, Washington
MORE "GRASS IS GREENER!"
Dear Mr. Slater:
Last month I read your magazine for the first time. It offered little other than rehash of the problems faced by people the world over that are seeking a bit of freedom from the conformity thrust upon us by an ignorant few. Face the facts! It is going to be impossible to change society within the foreseeable future. It will be possible to make some gains in the homophile movement. In the meantime you must make the best of a bad situation.
How can people of like ideas and tastes get together for the purpose of indulging in their special desires? You can't-in this country. But with a little imagination it could be worked out. Here are a few ideas. There are many islands . . .
VOTES AND OPINIONS Dear Don:
Mr. H.
San Antonio, Texas
In response to your ballot I will answer all of the propositions, but, on a few, I reserve the right to question them, to try to straighten out some that are false and outdated.
With the Wolfenden Report, Kinsey, Life and an open press, homosexuality has been viewed a little differently of late. I do feel that the "heteros" have a better if not more. enlightened conception and maybe a softer attitude towards us today. I could be totally wrong on this point as we all live rugged individual lives and so I speak for myself.
There is an old adage, "you get more with honey than with vinegar," that should be applied to the religious question. By that I mean we should come to terms with the Church and the Synagogue. It can be done and now more so than ever. For, in the Ecumenical council, the "liberal" Fathers are trying to propose that sex for procreation only is not justified. Should they win on this point, they then will legitimize homosexuality.
I disagree with you on #11. Mr. N.
Queens Village, New York
"THE TWINS" ARE A HIT!
Mes Chers Amis:
To have been the first to congratulate you on your article in the December issue "The Lesson From the Twins," I should have written a week ago. Perhaps I can still be among the earliest.
The article is certainly a worthy climax to an eventful and fruitful year. To say that it is inspiring is to put it mildly. We who live in the "hinterland" know of many such couples, living together successfully and happily, but for many reasons they receive no publicity. Most such couples seek no publicity, and many would refuse it if offered.
But, Valentine Richardson has failed to indicate what legal or ethical steps were taken for the protection of the children of one of the "Twins." In this state, the children could come in and take all the older "Twin" left upon his passing, and in fact it is almost impossible to disinherit children here.
In the larger cities, the public seems, today, to be willing to accept the fact of two men living together, provided that they live with self-respect and dignity. Even in the heterosexual world a succession of marriages and divorces can cause a loss of esteem to those who so behave.
With every good wish for a happy and successful year to the editors and staff of ONE, and to the Corporation officers, I am including a small check to be applied to the printer's bill.
Mr. A.
New Orleans, Louisiana
RE: ONE EDITOR SPEAKS AT COLLEGE Dear ONE:
On behalf of the CSCLA ACLU I'm writing. to thank you for your appearance on campus.
I have heard nothing but favorable comment from everyone who heard you, including professors, students, and especially those who were originally against your speaking. I doubt that ONE, Incorporated gained any support but a significant number of people who heard you will be stimulated to learn and will be skeptical about the numerous myths surrounding the subject of homosexuality.
13TH YEAR Dear Don:
Jim Blanchfield Calif. State College Los Angeles, California
Congratulations to all of you at ONE who have made possible thirteen years of service
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