Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

Appreciates gayness of Guide

I have often wondered how most of your readers deal with the extremes of your articles -- from the serious, such as the editorials, to the reviews of sex videos, and the basic coverage of travel resources in different cities. Or does each reader just read the sections that interest him? I have often felt I was reading back issues of ONE/Tangents Magazine as the views of French Wall are like those of Don Slater and the editors of ONE.

The editorial in the November issue of The Guide ("Giving gay thanks," available at Guidemag.com) is a perfect example. Most "gays" do not agree with your thinking, as they did not like the views when Don expressed them for two decades. Too many newbies to our community/movement have not spent the time to understand the consequences of terms they want to use to make them feel good and get "accepted." The problem, as you point out, with saying "accept poor us, as we can't help being gay" is lousy PR even if some "gays" think such thinking will get us accepted and laws changed. It didn't seem to help on the marriage issue, and it is pathetic victimology that is not very "gay."

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You are so right when you say such thinking misses the whole point of "gay liberation," which is that it is society that is sick, not homosexuals.

One point about your coverage of cities around America and the world for gay consumers / travelers. I wonder how many gay travelers are interested not only in where to find gay bars and hotels, but also in learning about the situation in the city they are visiting. You do give (most of the time) the name of the local gay/lesbian newspaper, and the gay center, if there is one, but you seldom list a gay church or library or archive or athletic club or theater.

Having lived most of my adult life in Los Angeles, I thought your recent coverage was good, but since most of my life's work was (is) with ONE, Inc and the Homosexual Information Center (HIC), both of which came out of early Mattachine, and thus are the first g/l organization still going, mainly as archives/libraries, I think they deserved mention -- ONE being at USC (in a separate building)and HIC being at Cal State Northridge (in the library as a special collection), plus the Mazer Archives in West Hollywood. And since the Metropolitan Community Church started in Los Angeles, it is a logical thing to mention, as several of its churches are in the area. But the point is that any guide will list the non-gay places, but a gay guide should list available gay resources.

I always like reading letters to the editor of publications as I like to see what other readers think about an article, etc., and in this case, if most people agreed or disagreed with your editorial, if they read it and what other people living in Los Angeles thought of your coverage. I hope they appreciate that your travel coverage is more up-to-date than most guides, and that you stimulate thinking on issues of homosexuality.

Billy Glover
Bossier City, Lousiana

Providence too intoxicating?

The summer season events you reference in your review of Providence are properly termed "Waterfire" events. "Firewater" as you labeled those events is, to my knowledge, the common term for certain alcoholic beverages. Perhaps your author enjoyed too much firewater at the expense of attending Waterfire during his trip to this fair city?

Also, you may want to be more careful about endorsing "gay-friendly" lodgings to gay visitors unless you know a little more about the city. Quite frankly, you are forwarding visitors to a few establishments who have a history of tumultuous relationships with elements of the gay/goth/and fetish communities.

Eric Marion
Providence, Rhode Island