Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

Loves Sex Surveys

I really liked the article on the results of the masturbation survey ["JO Survey Results," January 1999]. I found it informative, funny, and an interesting slice of gay men's life that people don't always talk about. I was so into it that I wished the article was longer and more detailed.

I would like to see more of these surveys in The Guide about the sexual, social, and life experiences of gay/bisexual men. I am interested in such subjects as monogamy vs. open relationships, strict top/bottom roles vs. versatility in sex, where men find sex, what sex acts men are doing, attitudes toward sexual taboos, what is "gay culture" and who in the gay community defines it and why, self esteem and sexuality, and coming out.

View our poll archive

It would be a lot of work, but it would be a great addition to The Guide! Personally, I was surprised but excited that 171 readers responded to the survey. This shows there is an interest in knowing how other men experience and relate to the world, especially when it comes to sexual issues.

B.T.
Boston, Massachusetts

Thanks for the feedback; look for more sex survey in the future.

Happy in Yugoslavia

I'm happy. Thank you very much for some information. You printed my advertisement in The Guide. Please can I ask you to publish my advertisement again? I will be very grateful.

Here in Yugoslavia there was war from 1990 to 1996. Now are the horrors of war again in my country. I would like to know many guys. Some say I will maybe have to leave Yugoslavia. Please can you publish my message with my really address? Thank you in advance

M.D.
Sombor, Yugoslavia

Look for your ad soon in MaleBox personals.

Most Useful

You need to promote your magazine more. I find The Guide much more helpful than Out & About or Our World.

J.B.
Los Angeles, California

J.B., you're going to love our new web site-- look for it this summer!

Hot for Sweaty Leather

If you want to promote some guy's videos, fine, but don't offend a whole city of your readers to do it as you did with the interview with Mark Jennings by Ed Karvoski, Jr. ["Hidebound and Hot to Trot," December 1998.] Who the hell appointed Mark Jennings to speak for "the leather community" of Phoenix after he moved to L.A.? To say it's too hot here for leather is ridiculous.

Leather is not about covering up your body. Leather is about showing it off. We can strut our naked muscles all through the social season from October to May, while men in Chicago and San Francisco are fussing with coat checks or schlepping bulky jackets through the bars. Even the hot days of summer often have cool or comfortably warm nights. Besides, I like male sweat! I love sweaty leather.

Two new leather bars just opened in Phoenix-- Padlock and Boot Camp, both packed with hot men. The Chute is listed in your Steam Heat section as "leathermen especially welcome." Sure, guys who grew up here want to try life in L.A.-- they should-- and many of them move back again after a few years. Many more move here from colder climates, as I did from New York, but I feel no need to insult New Yorkers to justify my choice. Jennings's photo suggests his discomfort with the heat is due more to the calories from whipped cream than from the sun. Phoenix may be hotter than you think. Why give one guy free advertising just so he can put us down?

Rowe Babcock
Phoenix, Arizona

Hey, dude, chill. Instead of thinking of it as a "put down," think of Jenning's remarks as advertising for other lovers of sweaty leather!

Begs 'Re-Analyzation'

I want to express my gratitude for your kindness in inserting my ad in The Guide free of charge. From that time, I received letters from persons who were interested in my proposition, and a frequent correspondence began among us. I don't know why, but said correspondence ceased. When I didn't receive any letters from those who wrote me frequently, a disagreeable situation of anxiety began in my life, because I thought I had found real and sincere friends.

It is very grievous for me to request this of you, but I would like you to re-analyze my situation and place my ad again. As you know, it is forbidden to send money from Cuba to abroad, so I request that this one also be free of charge. I very much appreciate your help and assistance.

O.Q.T.
Havana, Cuba

You're on the list!

Come to Poland

Since a few months I am a subscriber of The Guide. Working in the travel business, I look for information about Poland, but it is not yet in your circle of interest.

As you may know, Poland was the seventh most popular travel destination in the world in 1997. In 1989, when Poland went in the direction of democracy and free market economy, the country became open for visitors and for Polish travelers going abroad. Working in tourism, I noticed a rapid increase of gay guests coming to Poland. This is why I decided to establish the first professional gay travel agency in Poland.

We are a country of 40 million people. Approximately 3 million of them are gay. Now we are entering on the gay scene of Europe. The number of places where gay men and women can feel free is growing.

If it meet your interest, with pleasure we will supply you with detailed information and materials regarding gay life in virgin Poland.

Piotr Wojcik
Manager, Strawberry Travel
Warsaw, Poland

Welcome to the world of capitalism, Comrade Wojcik. A key component of market economies is advertising....

Looking for Friends

Hello to you all. I am writing to request some information regarding The Guide.

I have an idea that The Guide is offering the opportunity to meet someone compatible or just a place where I can place an ad. I am very much incarcerated, but I'll be released next year or the following year. I want you to know that because I never like holding the truth back.

Please give me all the information that's pertinent to friendship. A long term relationship is all that I'm seeking, because I'm exhausted from the game players.

Leon A. Ian Wright III
Prisonville, USA

Well, I doubt we can help with "all the information that's pertinent to friendship," but you might check out MaleBox personals-- and this month's editorial!

Prison Rejects Guide

The Guide is refused because it presents a clear and substantial threat to the security, order, or rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system or the safety of any person.

P.J. Mecusker
Assistant Superintendent for Programs
Florida State Prison
Starke, Florida

Where does one go to learn how to speak such bureaucratese?

Reach Out and Touch... the Right

The right wing is viciously renewing their attack against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities along with any other people they deem not to fit into their definition of "Christian" values.

We must fight back any way we can. Otherwise we will face another Nazi-like era ushered in by these zealots, all with the full support of fanatical elected Republican officials who give these nuts the power base they so desperately need to continue this hateful campaign.

There are three things every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered person must do. (1) Register to vote! (2) Vote wisely and do not support people who support intolerance. (3) Call the following toll-free numbers to voice your disapproval of their actions to the organizations themselves:

Christian Coalition: 800-325-4746

Focus on the Family: 800-232-6459

Family Research Council: 800-225-4008

These organizations pay for each call you make-- the calls are free for you. If you're worried about these groups capturing your phone number, consider calling from a phone booth. Ask anything you like, and keep 'em talking.

D.H.
Carlsbad, California

'Dumb' Not to Renew

Thanks for inviting me back to The Guide. I was dumb not to continue the fun that The Guide had given me.

Enclosed is $45 in cash for 12 enjoyable issues. Keep up the good work.

Paul
Spencer, Massachusetts

Keeping Hope Alive

I first saw your paper last week in Amsterdam and find it a nice mix of features with politics that are close to my own. I'm an old GLFer [Gay Liberation Front] and gay campaigner from way before the 70s, so you understand why I'm not happy with the way our queer press here in England are going-- towards respectability, acceptance, and commercialization. Our Pride March was always followed by a Pride Festival. This year the latter was canceled due to lack of support for what had become a non-political gay pop-festival with trimmings.

I suppose this shows there could be support for some more serious discussion. That's what I see your paper as providing, and with reader-approachable ideas and subjects.

I'd like to be able to see The Guide available here in London too. Are

you intending to move into this country?

I really think what you're doing needs doing. It gives hope that gay liberation attitudes are alive. Love and good will.

Michael Brown
London, England

Thanks for the kind words; we have a limited distribution in London-- more advertisers means more magazines, so be sure to let our patrons in London know they're appreciated!