private lives and there is no point in having a false public face. It is of course possible for an occasional couple to be made up of an extremely masculine woman and a relatively feminine one. This does not mean they live in a state of dominance on the one hand and passivity on the other.

"It has of ten been reiterated that one of the hardest things in a heterosexual union is the vast gulf between the sexes. Why then should we who have no vast gulf imitate those who do?"

G.D., Kansas City, Kan.

"I loved Barbara Stephen's cute story in the April LADDER on the Martian View. The girls at Riley's make me smile wryly. They wear pants. At Smiley's, where my set has fun, the boys wear panties.

"Those crazy girls! Wearing pants when they could go out in all the delici ous new feminine dainties. We who hate pants skulk in the shadows in our trapezes 'til we enter Smiley's.

"Speaking seriously, THE LADDER is a splendid publishing venture. Its contents exhibit the sincerity, integrity and determinati on of the DOB. Keep the name Lesbiana for the book notes column. Lesbian is a name honored down the centuries among the greatest civilizations. Some sweet day it will be the name of our magazine. In the ancient world a Lesbian was an aristocrat, a free, cultured person, respected and admired by every class. Lesbians were noted for their beauty, grace and wisdom. They didn't wear pants.

"Now that ONE, the Mattachine Review and THE LADDER aro firmly established, maybe the latter would look after the interests of the unorganized transvestites. We females in male bodies would enjoy reading about our activities and asserting claims to status. There are millions of us. (Kinsey). So many scorn us straight people; male homophiles especially.