Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

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Clicked on to your Web page to send your superb editorial, "Jenny Jones Disaster" [June 1999] to a couple of friends who may have missed it. Could not get it. Apparently too early. Will try again in a few days.

via the Internet

Print magazine articles are posted to the web a few weeks after the magazine has been distributed; to be the first on your block to see each month's new Guide, you have to subscribe.

Bear 'Relieved' by Web Site

I just saw your web site [www. guidemag.com] for the first time. It was real exciting for this bear in the closet and often in need of relief. Thank you. I feel better.

A

View our poll archive

ndy
ils2391@pacbell.net

Scammed!

I do not know if you realize that the ads that run in MaleBox for incarcerated prisoners are scams. I wrote to a man who's ad ran in your October 97 issue. I have written him ever since. I just learned this week that he is in for premeditated murder and other violent crimes.

Over the period of time I have sent him almost $4000. He claimed he was in for manslaughter as a result of a DUI. He claimed he had been in for three years and that he was 32 years old. Well try 18 years in prison on this offense and 40 years old.

You can go to the internet www.dc. state.fl.us Florida Department of Corrections. Under Inmate Population you can search. Your current issue on the net has several inmates of the Florida State Prison listed. Let me assure you if you check them out, you will soon see that what they project and what they are not the least bit the same.

This man has now tried to have outside parties threaten my safety. I will work with the Department of Corrections to try to see that this does not happen again.

I would appreciate you looking into this situation and what steps you will take to protect your readers and the gay community.

A.T.
via the internet

Thanks for your e-note. We do not allow advertisers to solicit money in their ads, but we are not in a position to research and verify each ad (placed by a prisoner or not), nor can we monitor what pen pals decide to do once they've begun a correspondence. Before sending an unknown person (prisoner or not) thousands of dollars, common sense would dictate a bit of prudent research yourself; perhaps retelling your experience here will alert others to the need to use their brains before opening their checkbooks.

"Publication Denial Notification"

The above listed publication [The Guide] has been reviewed and denied in accordance with Section 3.9 of the TDCJ-ID Rules and Regulations for the reason(s) checked below: (d) A specific factual determination has been made that the publication is detrimental to prisoner's rehabilitation because it would encourage deviate criminal sexual behavior.

Remarks: Pages 15, 17, 137 and 140 contain graphic depiction of men engaging in homosexual activity. Pages 134 and 135 contain graphic depiction of sex with a minor. (Does not qualify for clipping.)

If there is a desire to appeal the rejection of the aforementioned publication, this may be accomplished by writing to the Director's Review Committee within two weeks.

Mail System Coordinators Panel
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Huntsville, Texas

'Appalled' by Anti-Circumcision Editorial

I just came across your article on circumcision ["Stop Circumcision," May 1996, and was frankly appalled.

Being Jewish, I am naturally defensive when the subject comes up. That having been said, however, the article is, nonetheless, so filled with hyperbole, inaccuracies, and distortions that I have to wonder what horrors the author must have experienced in his youth. From the assumptions of trauma during the surgery, and the reduction of pleasure during sex, to its attack on homosexuality, there is so much that is inaccurate that I have to wonder who this magazine is aimed at to have accepted this article.

Marvin Rothenberg
modeler@pacbell.net

No infant should be forced to endure painful, unnecessary, non-consensual removal of a vital, pleasure-giving part of the penis done in a (profit-making) ritual aimed at 'purifying' his nasty (i.e., sexual) parts.

More Scenery Pics?

Great magazine you have, I read every issue.

One thing puzzles me though. For a travel magazine, isn't it strange to only have pictures of people rather than of the city and the sights? Even a picture of some of the businesses you feature as opposed to smiling patrons or owners would provide a little much needed variety. Additionally, while I realize it is the advertisers that pay for the magazine, could you provide a little more information on the cities you feature and not just a description of each business? Anyway, keep pumping them out and I'll keep picking them up.

M. L.
Montreal

Thanks for your comments. Sometimes when we have space (always at a premium!) we include some scenery shots of the places we visit. But we figure that you can get that from other guide books-- we focus on the information of interest to gay readers that's harder to find.

Loves On-line Resource

Now that I know about your on-line product, every time I travel to a new place I gather all the information I can from you on line, and I have had the best time!

Last November I went to Paris and I visited all the places you mentioned (finding them easily with your map), and three weeks ago I went to Australia and I had the best time also. This time I made sure to mention to the people at the places I visited that I found them through The Guide. In Sydney and Melbourne I even stayed at the hotels you recommended; the one in Melbourne was actually a little house, very cozy and clean, plus I had free access to their sex club (the fabulous Club 80).

In a couple of months I plan to go to London or Toronto, and of course I will rely on your information.

Max
Toronto, Ontario
latintop@aol.com

Your note made everyone's day here at The Guide. Glad you find our articles helpful, and hope you keep reading.

Wants Denver Ballpark Info

Hi! On a page at your web site there is an item excerpted from Raunch, Boyd McDonald's 11th volume of true sex histories.

The author mentions spending time at the Ballpark in Denver. I am in the process of writing a book concerning this now defunct establishment (where I used to spend much time at as a teenager and into my early 20s). I found the place to be an alternate reality, and I am interested in conversing with anyone who has a story or two to tell. I am also interested in getting a description of the place. I only have my memories, and would like to confirm them or enhance them. I remember driving up to Denver with a lover with the hopes of taking him to the Ballpark only to find it shut down and the attendants working at a 24-hour White Spot restaurant.

Thanks in advance for any help you might give me.

Mark L Andrews
marktzot@prodigy.net

Thanks for your inquiry. We don't know who contributed that item to Boyd McDonald's book, and have no way of finding out. But maybe some astute reader will get in touch. Good luck with your project, and send us a copy when you are done.

Faction Binder Wants Bigger Web Site

I have relished your editorials for years. Your columnists are right on and write well. Sock it to 'em!

I have been a gay activist in Seattle for 30 years, the first public one, in fact. Among other things, I was in at the founding of eight of our first 10 gay organizations, and four others in recent years. I have always tried to bind the factions, to pursue radical goals with moderate means that reassure supporters as much as possible.

I feel right at home with your writers. Since I pick up The Guide irregularly at bars, and since I hope the columns will be easy to find for other people who need to read them, I hope they will all be posted permanently on your Web site. Are they?

Tim Mayhew
tmayh@hotmail.com

At the moment, our editorials and Newsslant sections are posted to our Web site, along with feature and travel articles, but Mitzel, and Michael Bronski's book and film columns are not. Soon we will be unveiling our new, improved Web site, and have plans for eventually putting on archival content. So keep reading and stay posted!

Wants More On-line

Thanks for putting your magazine on-line so people from all over the globe can see it instead of having to go to a retailer that carries your fine publication.

I have a suggestion to make: why don't you put your ads (like in the magazine) and pictures on-line as well? That way you can charge more for advertising as your reach would be greater than just paper circulation, and we can all enjoy the pictures and the advertisements. Most people read The Guide to find places to go when traveling, and even though your articles on a specific destination are fine, we still need pictures to see what type of facilities the establishment offers.

Stanley Liu
stanleyliu@worldnet.att.net

Thanks for your note. We are working on a major upgrade to our web site, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will offer more pictures and advertising. As you can imagine, it's a challenging job to move the contents of a printed magazine to a different medium. Glad you enjoy The Guide.