READERS RESPOND

"CHEERS FOR THE BEST ISSUE OF THE LADDER (JAN. 1961) WHICH I HAVE

YET SEEN AND LET ME, MOST EMPHATICALLY AGREE WITH YOUR EDITORIAL. E DON'T NEED A 'BILL OF RIGHTS FOR HOMOSEXUALS'

NEED A DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS; THE RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE, WHATEVER THEIR LOVE LIFE, TO LIVE TO THE FULLEST PROVIDED THEY CAUSE NO HARM TO ANYONE ELSE.

" | WOULD PAR APHRASE THE FAMOUS PHRASE ABOUT STATES RIGHTS AND SAY: HOMOSEXUALS HAVE NO RIGHTS; ONLY PEOPLE HAVE RIGHTS. EvERY INDIVIDUAL HAS HIS OWN RIGHTS, BE HE A HOMOSEXUAL, A NEGRO, A QUAKER, OR A MEMBER OF EVERY MAJORITY GROUP INCLUDING THE ROTARY CLUB AND THE MIDDLE CLASS. (I KNOW A FEW HOMOSEXUALS WHO HAVE VIRTUALLY DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO STAMPING OUT HETEROSEXUALITY!)

"VALERIE TAYLOR'S LONG ARTICLE WAS THE SORT OF THING YOU SHOULD PUBLISH MORE OF GRANTED THAT YOU COULD GET IT; | IMAGINE SUCH ARTICLES ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. I FOUND MYSELF SAYING 'YES, YES, YES' ON EVERY PAGE PARTICULARLY TO THE ONE REMARK SHE MADE ABOUT BISEXUALS WHO CONCEAL THEIR NATURES BECAUSE THEY GET HELL FROM BOTH SIDES. INDEED YES. SINCE WRITING THE TWO 'BORDERLAND' ARTICLES, THE FEW PEOPLE WHO KNOW MY IDENTITY HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGING ME WITH ALL THEIR HEARTS, BLESS THEM, TO COME OUT OF HIDING AND LIVE FREELY AS A HOMOSEXUAL QUITE MISSING THE POINT OF THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, THAT FOR PEOPLE OF THIS PARTICULAR SORT, EXCLUSIVE HOMOSEXUAL ORIENTATION IS JUST AS IMPOSSIBLE AS THE LIFE OF THE GOOD HOMEY HAUSFRAU! OR ELSE THEY QUITE MISS THE POINT AND ASSUME THAT I AM PERPETUALLY GRIPPED BY AN INSANE DESIRE TO PLUNGE INTO ORGIES OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED IN THE VARIOUS WORKS OF THE SHADY PRESS, MORE NOTABLE FOR QUANTITY AND DIVERSITY OF PARTICIPANTS THAN FOR ANY QUALITIES OF EMOTION OR TENDER COMPANIONSHIP.

"I FELT SINCERE GRIEF AT HEARING OF THE DEATH OF DR. BAKER, THE LATE MARJORIE LIVINGSTON, SCHOLAR AND WRITER OF EXCELLENT HISTORICAL NOVELS, FIRST INTRODUCED ME TO HER; AND IT WAS THIS WHICH