Letters to the Editor	Letters Archive

'No Prisoners, Please'

I have an ad in the MaleBox personals under "Longtime Lover Wanted."

I got a confiscation letter from a prison I wrote to in Kentucky.

I do not want any more prisoners to answer my ad. They are mostly cons. Please place "No prisoners please" in my ad text.

I'm very upset with that letter I got back from that Kentucky Correctional Institute. Hell, they could place my name on a website having me as a "Sex Offender." I don't need that.

I wish as a policy you wouldn't accept ads from prisoners. I notice that 80% of the ads are prisoners in your publication. I enjoy reading your magazine and hope to hear from someone who is "real."

J

View our poll archive

. W.
Escondido, California

Undoubtedly, some prisoners are less than completely honest in their self-descriptions and promises they make. But so are non-prisoners. Establishing a relationship, even a penpal relationship, with an unknown person requires a certain amount of caution and care no matter who the new acquaintance is.

While prisoners may not be your desired correspondents, many other readers seem to enjoy reaching out to those unfortunate enough to be incarcerated.

Preyed Upon Labeled 'Predator'

Enclosed, please find a certified check in the amount of $30 for a one year's subscription.

I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the article in your July, 2006, issue, "Sex Offender Registries: Invitation to Vigilantism"

I am thankful to find a legitimate publication which shares my opinion. I'm concerned the gay community isn't more involved and/or aware of these sex-offender programs. When the accepted standard for "mental illness" can be manipulated to fit a desired criteria, mischief is sure to follow.

In 1981 after quarreling with my lover, I walked (to avoid DWI) to my local gay tavern. There, I was solicited by an 18-year-old Jeffrey. And though I was not seeking, the young man was persistent and we made arrangements.

Sadly, "Jeffrey" was actually 15-year-old John, whose attempted extortion literally got him thrown out of my apartment door.

As I'm sure you know, when an individual makes a claim of rape, they're taken to a hospital where various samples are taken for laboratory analysis. In this case, there were three different men's semen found in the seat of the young man's briefs! This, coupled with my meeting the young man in a notorious homosexual establishment, meant I decided to take the case before a jury of my peers.

The presiding judge at my trial ruled the laboratory evidence of semen in the seat of the "victim's" briefs was inadmissible. Thus, my 12 peers knew nothing of it, allowing the prosecution to continue portraying the young man as a naive street urchin. And even though in the young man's original statement to the police he admits we met inside the gay tavern, all "official" records state that I approached the "victim" on the street.

Obviously, this is a short account of the events. But after serving twenty (20) consecutive years in prison, in November 2000, I was involuntarily civilly committed as a dangerous "Sexually Violent Predator." The entire S.V.P. program-- from the enactment of the law, to the specialized Sex Offender specific treatment-- is a sham. A $50-million carbuncle on the buttocks of tax-paying citizens of New Jersey.

Thanks for the ability to vent to a group of folks who aren't caught up in the Oprah hysteria.

D.F.
New Jersey

Homophiliac

I was surprised to see Blanche Poubelle endorsing the use of "homosexual" instead of the admittedly antiquated "homophile" ['Homophile' or 'homosexual'? One goes with butt-fucking, The Guide, September 2006.]

While I appreciate the willingness to emphasize sex (at a time when so many in our community want to pretend we're all eunuchs!), "homophile" seems to capture a broader sense of who we are and what our movement is, or was, about: creating a different way of thinking about gender, not just sex.

And some of us older guys have precious little sex, but still maintain a robustly "philiac" attitude toward other males, not just their penises.

But I quibble. Keep up the good work!

K.L.
Lexington, Kentucky