Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

Loves Web Site

Just found this site [www. guidemag.com], and I think it is great. I travel a lot, and your guide really helps me. With your magazine, I know exactly where to go when in new towns. Thanks for a job well done.

A story on St. Louis would be great. We have a little of everything here. If you can't find it here, it can't be found!

Bob

scrossen@igateway.net

Your wish is our command; hope you enjoyed September's feature on St. Louis!

Stumbled Across Web Site

View our poll archive

I just stumbled across The Guide web page [www.guidemag.com] via an ad in In Weekly for a hotel in Montreal. I printed out a bunch of useful material on Provincetown and Montreal in preparation for vacation there. Love the service. Hartford bars do not consistently have the magazine available. Is there a more consistent way of getting the information?

B.P.

BPaiva@aol.com

Sure! See the subscription form on page 4 of every issue.

Girl Paratrooper Upset by Sex Histories

I am a paratrooper of the US Army. I am also a female. I think it's fucking disgusting that you would print a story about a gay paratrooper. Which, I am sure would never happen! We paratroopers are the elite of the Army, and if I hear of any more stories of gay soldiers, whether they be paratroopers or not, I will make all your pathetic little lives a living hell.

via the Internet

Swenzel82@aol.com

Congratulations, you must have been reading "Paratrooper Displays Hose for Youth, 18" one of Boyd McDonald's "True Sex Histories" available at www.guidemag.com. Don't get your khaki panties in such a knot-- the story's author also found his paratrooper pal to be elite, having the biggest, heftiest dick he'd ever seen.

More on Ephebophilia

Thanks for your bold response to TP's letter [July 1998] about Richard Mohr's article "The Pedophilia of Everyday Life" [September 1996, also available at www.guidemag.com].

The involvement of young men with older men and women has been seen as a rite of passage until recent years. The Summer of '42 is now viewed as pedophilic! When I saw it, I considered it beautiful. Many of my friends in their 40s and 50s tell of teenage sexual experiences with adults which they considered fun and enjoyable at the time. Of course, they had never been told that they were supposed to be warped by the experience (or that they could cash in on it). While any unwanted, forced, or intimidating sexual encounter is wrong, our laws and the therapeutic community have created a monster where, before, there was none. It grieves me when I hear even gay therapists spouting this crap about pedophilia when it is really ephebophilia. At least that distinction should be kept clear.

We try to protect our children from too much in life. It seems to me that we are preventing them from growing into responsibility. A sixteen-year-old boy experiencing sex, even with an adult, is not necessarily a tragedy. It could be fun. If it's not, then he will learn not to allow it again. (I suspect he'll need several lessons.)

a reader

mike953@webtv.net

Sex Equals Abuse

I have just read your editorial "The Real Child Abuse," [available at www.guidemag.com] and I have to say that I am shocked. I know many people that have been hurt by the abuse that they received, unwillingly at the hands of adults and other people their age. This is not something that would be solved by making the subject of sex and sexual expression in children less taboo.

I agree with you that we need to demystify sex. This would help to decrease our adolescent pregnancy rate. But that does not mean giving permission to every pedophile to abuse their hearts out and destroy the selves of the children they hurt. I also feel that the experimentation done by children should not involve intercourse. Children who have not yet completed puberty are not biologically ready to handle intercourse. Give the children time to grow, but let the table be open. Then when they are ready they can make mature, intelligent decisions.

Leigh

via the Internet

Thanks for stopping by our site and reading. You might want to read a bit more carefully, though; what we argue against is conflating sexual expression with "abuse." Genuine abuse is made more likely by hysterical attitudes that make rational discussions of childhood sexuality impossible, just as teen pregnancy is made more inevitable by enforcing ignorance and social ostracism on sexually active girls.

Loves European Travel

I have enjoyed your articles about European travel. I have made several trips to Europe and will be doing more in the near future. I booked my hotel in Amsterdam this fall through your information. Thank you for this information on these cities. Your magazine has better knowledge than many guide books. I really would like to have any past issues that you may have on European cities.

Jackie Mills

Covington, Kentucky

Back issues are available for $5 (includes postage); text of articles and travel classifieds are available at www.guidemag.com

Why Be Shy?

I have to tell you how much I enjoy reading The Guide. I discovered it by chance three or four years ago, and was not too much impressed. However, I now think you have struck the right note with a good mixture of controversial articles and un-PC views together with smut and travel tips.

In some ways The Guide is filling the gap left by The Advocate whose tedious and sanctimonious prose is really out of touch with what gay men want out of a gay magazine: stories, information, as well as, well, sex-- let's not shy away from the word. Well done.

Phillipe-J. Salazar

Cape Town, South Africa

Welcome in Israel

The Society for the Protection of Personal Rights for Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (SPPR), Israel's prominent gay/lesbian/bisexual (GLB) organization, would like to extend an invitation to your readers to visit our beautiful country.

Although small and quite young, Israel is a land of extraordinary diversity. Our ethnic origins are as varied as our landscape-- the country is populated with people from every corner of the world. Israel is home to holy sites of some of the world's major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Bahai. English is widely spoken, and Israelis are well known for their hospitality, making it a great place to meet the locals and make new friends.

In the metropolitan centers of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa you'll find a vibrant GLB community. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with established GLB organizations. Gays, lesbians and bisexuals enjoy great freedom in Israel; homosexuality was decriminalized in 1988.

Surprisingly, Israel has not yet been discovered by the international GLB tourist. We look forward to assisting you in your efforts to discover the land of Israel and all it has to offer.

Roger Kaplan

Society of the Protection of Personal Rights

Tel Aviv, Israel

Loyal readers might remember our article "Goy and Gay in Israel" from December 1994; even four years ago, there was clearly much in store for gay visitors to Israel. And, Roger, a traditional way to get the word out is through advertising....

Horrible News; 'What Shall I Do?'

Last year I wrote to The Guide, and you published my ad. Thanks to you, I received some letters during last year. I want to thank you very much.

On February 2, I knew the horrible news about myself. I'm HIV positive. I don't want to say what was with me. Will say only, that it is very cruel result of my love. I'm very sure and faithful person. In 1994, I met one German, and we were good friends (more than). It was big love. But last year he left me alone. (I still don't know why.) And here I knew this news. I'm HIV positive. What can I do? What shall I do?

Of course, my life did change (I mean mentally). All my plans and dreams, hopes is gone. Yes, it seems to me that I did find a power to live further. Yes, I shall try to live. But there is one giant problem. This is my solitude. It is not normal-- to be alone, especially now. I need a friend, a real friend. Much too.

My dear friends, I ask you again: please publish my ad in The Guide (new ad, new code). Maybe somebody will respond to. I hope so much. Any help will be great for me. I want to love. I want to live.

Please don't show my address in magazine because I'm afraid if someone will know here about me.

Many thanks my dear friends! I hope that my request will be fulfilled, I wish you the best only,

Y.

Kharkov, Ukraine

We have several months' backlog of overseas ads, and we will not have room for everybody's-- but look for yours in the next few months.

A Friend in Ghana

Thank you for all the friends I have made through The Guide. Believe me, I will always be with The Guide. I hope this letter finds you feeling fine.

I wish you renew my subscription. Because of the unavailability of International Money Orders, a good friend in Canada will remit on my behalf. Please let me know if I can pay with physical dollars in an envelope.

Y.A.W.

Mankessim, Ghana

Sure, you can send cash-- if you trust it'll make it through the various postal handlings in your country and ours...(and it often does!).

A Salute

Thank you for your magazine and the information you graciously afford us.

Please continue to be that excellent service you have been thus far for our community. All the best.

Jerry