Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

Dodging Zoophiliaphobia

I read the article Laying with Beasts [January 1999] with great interest and excitement.

But, what happens if you get caught? What states don't put you in jail or fine you or publish your name in a court record?

In other words am I safe here in Maine? Can you tell me what states are safe?

Toni
somewhere in Maine

You can find Maine's regulations at: http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/17-A/title17-Ach0sec0.html, but unless someone sees you who has it in for you, whatever the law says, you're probably safe.

View our poll archive

Historic Atlanta

I was doing research on-line into the old Atlanta "Gallus" hustler bar and drag restaurant, to see if there were any old photos, and I came across your article [our October 2005 Atlanta travel feature, with 130 photos].

The Metro bar, which you mention, was in my great-grandparent's former house on Crescent Street, a place I spent many hours as a child, full of dark 1920s furniture and photos of old relatives. The Gallus was in another old house across the street, with a restaurant upstairs and a hustler bar downstairs. I remember that the Gallus sent a platter of food to my great-grandfather's funeral reception.

I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs, but as soon as I could drive (1983), I was sneaking out at night and circling Crescent Street in a car, hanging out at the Krystal, sneaking into bars, sometimes in drag, at the age of 15. The great-grandparents were too old to even get out of bed, much less notice that I was slutting around-- all the lights in the house were always off after midnight. I even hustled once on Crescent-- I didn't need the money. I just wanted to do something wild, I guess. I could have gotten into trouble, but I didn't. I was the bored, horny suburban kid with braces, acne, and big wild blond hair-- and too shy to even talk.

I actually went on a date at the Gallus once, while I was still in high school, with my 27 year-old drug-dealer boyfriend. We were served by a tranny waitress. The boyfriend sold to many of the nightlife performers, and I went with him on his rounds. I never did any drugs, and the boyfriend wasn't very dangerous-- he was a former seminary student saving his money to buy his first house. It was just clean fun, seriously, but I guess I was lucky!

Since I grew up in a family where queers were mocked all the time, it was thrilling to go back to Atlanta in the 90s and discover that my great-grandparent's entire house had been turned into a bar/disco-- The Metro. I went and had a drink once during a holiday visit-- it made me very happy, but disoriented.

I went on to New York University, and I still live in Manhattan. I paint, I write, am very involved in a little circle of downtown artists and musicians, filmmakers, and nightlife people. I edited an infamous porno magazine for many years under another name. Still hustling Crescent street, I guess, but on a higher plateau now-- New York is where I made my own family.

I hear Crescent Street is all torn down now-- high rise luxury, etc.

Keep thinking about the history of gay life in Atlanta-- it is so deep and rich, but now mostly torn down to make way for the new. But it's not to late to recover a lot of the history from the old folks and archives.

Sean Belman
New York, New York

Queer Science

Your December 2005 editorial Bi Lie? noted, "Instead of calling people liars for not fitting into predetermined categories, let's recognize and celebrate that human sexuality is wondrously diverse."

Great and insightful comment. I encourage everyone to go on from there however. Inquire as to why these predetermined categories are so important to some folks. Ask why these researchers feel the need to prop-up such categories by installing peter-meters on people and calling them liars for not meeting the researcher's own erectile expectations concerning bisexuality.

I certainly see in recent decades a gay political leadership that promotes not sexual liberation for all, but the divisiveness of identity politics. "Scientists" picking up on these trends search for wimpy hypothalami, or whatever else they can grasp at to lend support to these cultural ideas. Instead of questioning social categories, they suck them up whole and then go off trying desperately to do research-- any research-- on them. Eventually, given small enough samples, random chance, and/or questionable techniques-- they come up with something, and the whole fucking society heaves a collective sigh of relief: our categories are "right" after all!

This is exactly the same error queer activists have been struggling with for more than a century: cultural/moral definitions and categories that are promoted as "objective" and "science."

Keep up the good work of calling these "scientists" out, not for their mixing science and morality (that is inevitable) but for not being up-front about it.

ditchman
via email

Sex Behind Bars

Do you have any customers from the Green River Correctional Complex? Two-thirds of the 2100 inmates here are gay-- they call this Gay River!

C. T.
Central City, Kentucky

Patrons of our MaleBox Personals know we have many prisoners as readers. Indeed, some have wondered if recidivism rates are increased by convicts' desire to regain access to guy-on-guy sex-- yet another reason society should encourage gay expression!

Tits Tips for Tops

I enjoyed your article Nipplemania [September 2001]. Seems to me that gay porno should be in the vanguard of educating guys about the pleasures of pec/nip stimulation. Rarely does one see a top playing with the bottom's nips while fucking. Yet, from personal experience, I know guys (especially bodybuilders on steroids) really get off on having their nips stimulated while my penis is stimulating their sensitive prostate.

Develop the right pec/nip technique and you will have muscle studs coming back for more... and often.

Do you know of any videos which feature pec/nip stimulation orgasms?

YogiNow
via email

Though any number of videos include nipple/tit play, we don't know of any videos that specialize in nipple-stimulation induced orgasms. Readers, any help?

Using Kids to Peddle Whatever

I just happened onto your site [www.guidemag.com]. I read the article for a drug free America [Pedophilia of Everyday Life, January 1999]. I was impressed as to how much thought was put into the comments of regarding using an attractive young boy to grab readers attention. I will look more closely at other adds/photos of kids used in advertisements.

I imagine kids at 12 or 13 are very sexual beings, but I'm not sure about being a sexual partner to anyone-- of any age. While I appreciate an attractive kid, I guess I don't think of him as a potential sex partner-- for me or even a 13-year-old girl. Maybe that makes me a little old-fashioned.

But I will now look at all photos using young boys to sell products or a political message a little differently.

a reader
via email

Muy Triste

I'm writing you because I need help, solidarity, and compassion. I live in Nicaragua with my mother, two sisters, and two small cousins. My brother died in 1999, and his death was full of sorrow because he hanged himself. This tragedy in my home was so hard for my family to accept. Even before my brother's death, I was sad and lonely, because I'm gay and can't tell my family, because I'm living in a country and town with an ugly macho culture full of discrimination against gay men. I must be very secretive about my life. I'm very tired of being lonely and sad, and I would be so happy to get a lot of gay men pen friends from your country. Please do not abandon me.

D.N.P.
Nicaragua

Crude Shakedown Alleged

It is in the best interest of your readers to discontinue [a certain MaleBox ad]. About a year ago I wrote him two casual non-sexual letters about his interest in travel. Last week I received a blackmail letter from him demanding $3000 for sexual harassment. This is amusing, since sex was not discussed in my letters. Anyway, I think your readers should avoid contact with the man.

E.Y.
whereabouts unspecified

The ad in question no longer appears in MaleBox Personals. We do not allow solicitation in our personal ads, and though we are not in a position to adjudicate disputes amongst correspondents, we sometimes have deleted ads (or put a hold on mail forwarding) when clear evidence is presented of harassment. Your best policy, of course, is to be appropriately cautious when dealing with essentially unknown persons....

Take It Off!

Several years ago The Guide published a piece titled Strippers 101 [April 2001] which detailed where strip clubs could be found, whether they were nude or not, and a little about the kind of stripper you would find there. This was information some of my friends and I had been looking for. We hoped it would be an annual or semi-annual feature. How about another article? It's time for "Strippers 102!"

D. G.
North Hollywood, California

Indeed, "Strippers 101" proved an enormously popular article; while no new article is currently planned, we do mention strip clubs and bars featuring strippers in our travel articles.