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This is a pretty angry criticism of your article, Mykel. Read it¨
before you jump to conclusions. If you insist that I run it, I¨
will do so followed immediately by this rebuttal. I still love¨
you though Mykel!

Sorry, but this issue at hand ain't who you have an orgasm with.¨
If you get straight boys to let you suck/fuck them, well that's¨
great but not the point. The point is {\it identity} -- not sex.¨
Nor is it (to use your phrase) ``public display''.

I don't think there's as {\it much} anti-bi bias as you'd like.¨
There may be some resentment of a person who is male, has mainly¨
girl-friends for sex and whatever, emphasizes girl-relations, and¨
only occasionally refers to boy-relations in a backhanded way,¨
and in the usual straight-boy manner.

``Beards and dresses'' ain't faerie, it's gender-fuck. It is¨
intentional fucking with gender identification to (1) push your¨
own internal limits and concepts and (2) have a good time fucking¨
(harmlessly) with others'. Drag in the current mode has a very¨
long history (meaning the US this century). Radical Faeries are a¨
very new phenomenon, (formed by Harry Hay in 1970 or so) and is¨
mainly more-or-less ordinary people who find the mainstream fags¨
too limiting -- like many people do. It's their trip. At worst,¨
they are trying not to be mainstream consumer dingbats. At best,¨
they consciously work on the shit that makes mainstream society a¨
fucking mess, in their own heads. A huge proportion are into¨
direct-action that would make even Politically Correct punk types¨
ashamed of their inaction. I'm not a faerie but some of my best¨
friends are (he he), it's too New Age for me, but you should have¨
bothered to find out what they are really doing instead of¨
guessing (wrongly). Besides, ``society at large'' thinks I'm¨
weird anyways, I don't care if what I do reinforces their stupid¨
ideas. 

Damn right, if you're {\it lucky} you find ``gay'' anything when¨
you discover you like same-sex. Especially if you're really¨
young. I'm sure you've heard my criticisms of ``gay culture'',¨
which are many, but you are totally missing the point. The fact¨
is, when you discover (or decide to explore) same-sex stuff, the¨
``heterosexual community'' (egad, spare me this phrase Mykel)¨
will call you sick, beat you up, send you to shrinks, ignore¨
you\dots nearly every ``gay'' ``community'' resource I've ever¨
experienced or heard of, for all it's faults, tells you that you¨
have a CHOICE and that same-sex is GOOD and FINE and FUN. They¨
may not always be 
oh-so-sophisticated like you or I or anyone who's survived with¨
their brain intact for 20+ years, but finding out that you are¨
not a worthless piece of shit is a hell of a start, no? What you¨
want, perfection? I, like many many other people, thought I was¨
the {\it only one} that liked same-sex -- I wasn't stupid, I grew¨
up in a small town and had {\it zero} examples. I, like others,¨
outgrew the gay resources that were in Boston at the time. But¨
I'm sure as *fuck* glad they were there.

I do agree though that in many ways gay things become just a¨
mirror-image of breeder ones. Same competitive nonsense,¨
inflexible roles, judgmental attitudes, consumer values, etc.¨
People who get hung up on gay social conventions as The Right Way¨
are no stupider (or better) than those hung up on the 
mass-culture Right Way. This criticism of things Gay you \& I¨
share. As I see it it's the major, and possibly fatal,¨
shortcoming, of not rejecting 
mass-culture {\it outright}, or at least broad sections of it;¨
fear and hatred of non-breeder types is the same mechanism as¨
racism, sexism, and the generalized ``my way is the right way''¨
attitude (clothes, music, values, foreign policy, food\dots)¨
pervading everything.

Once you start exploring your sexuality in different ways, damn¨
right your friends change. You might even start off by simply¨
{\it losing} friends. If your sexuality bugs them, who's problem¨
is that? When you make big changes in your life, of any kind,¨
many of your friends ``go away''. When I decided to not hide my¨
sexuality many of my friends disappeared -- and I left the rest,¨
as they could not or would not be comfortable with me (and I¨
wasn't comfortable with me either!) Besides, nothing is forever¨
-- you should always do what truly feels right. You will probably¨
do things differently in the future, unless you limit {\it¨
yourself}.

There is one aspect of ``ghetto'' life you overlooked. Many, many¨
people are FUCKED OVER, and ghettos are safe places. You expect¨
someone who's been tormented because of who they are to just¨
become some idealized version of tolerant and accepting? Be¨
serious. It's awful fucking nice to have things like safe¨
neighborhoods -- which I would defend with violence if necessary,¨
to the very end -- even though it is not ``my'' neighborhood. I¨
do not live in one. I am not afraid to go out, nearly anywhere,¨
and just be myself, that's not the issue. Or are you implying we¨
should be ``tough'' and macho and rough it out there in the¨
``real'' (ie. hetero-judgmental) world?

This is the main reason I'm not running your article. I get lots¨
of readers that are very fucked up and don't need to hear shit¨
that is just ragging on things. Sorry, but I'm tired of punk-rock¨
attitudes that slag everything that isn't perfect or to their¨
liking. We're all alienated, it's time to take advantage of the¨
good parts, as well as pointing out the flaws. Both are needed. 

In your last paragraph, you work very hard at making this homo-¨
vs. hetero- thing into a nice consistent intellectual argument.¨
This is really insulting. Nearly every culture throughout¨
recorded (or not) history seems to imply that hetero- is by far¨
the most common. Most people are right handed, the world isn't¨
always consistent like that! Fuck Freud. 

Besides, even straight boys get fag-bashed, for shit's sake isn't¨
it obvious it's got NOTHING to do with who you happen to fuck?!¨
``Fags'' are this decade like ``niggers'' or ``jews'' -- a¨
``visible'' group to hate and beat up -- even if the ``visible''¨
part is only in the bashers eyes. Swishy femmy boys (yumm!), or¨
tough girls, it really doesn't matter if they like girls or boys,¨
they are gonna take shit all their lives. At the street level, it¨
simply does not matter from where this attitude springs! You and¨
I now live in two of the most tolerant and sophisticated cities¨
on the planet, so try to also keep that in mind. 

Your point of view is inherently different if you are a guy and¨
have relationships with girls. Sorry Mykel. Even if some thug¨
thinks you're a ``fag'' cuz you're bi, if they see you with a¨
girl now and then it reinforces that you're maybe just a weirdo,¨
not a fag. Try holding hands with boys in public, you'll get a¨
totally different reaction I can assure you. Also, you mention¨
lots of girls in your MAXIMUMROCKNROLL column, never boys, except¨
in passing, and in the usual high-school ``fuck 'em in the ass''¨
manner. There's even a girl picture in the header. Why? Obviously¨
I don't care who you hang out with or fuck, but don't be¨
surprised if everyone assumes you are straight. It {\it is}¨
possible for guys to ``hide'' behind their relationships with¨
girls even if they have sex with boys -- even if you don't intend¨
to. People will see what they want to see.

And when homos (or heteros) are intimidated or angry at bi-sex¨
people, don't blame the victim. We're all fucked over, especially¨
sexually non-mainstream people, so no sense climbing up the pile¨
of bodies to reach enlightenment. Going out with girls even¨
occasionally is like ``checking in'' -- it makes you appear that¨
you haven't strayed too far or something. 

As I've said before, it's not ME that makes a big deal of my¨
sexuality, the world-at-large does. This is an important detail¨
you seem to have missed, Mykel. There's more than a little macho¨
attitude in your article towards people who don't look, think and¨
act like you -- sorry, but {\it this} is the point. 

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Sorry if I sound pissed -- I am. Not in any lasting way, I hope¨
you don't hate me. I figured I'd be doing you a disservice if I¨
lied or some other deceitful thing. So, here it is. I hope you¨
can come through SF before you go onto the land of cheap¨
transistor radios. Bye!


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