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{\noindent\parskip=0pt\obeylines

2 April 1990

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New Pacific Academy
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Tom Jennings
HOMOCORE Zine / Fido Software
164 Shipley
San Francisco CA 94107
(415)-764-1688 (w)
(415)-882-9832 (h)
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I first met Deke at the 1988 Anarchist Gathering in Toronto.
Events conspired to bring a number of us out gay
punk/anarchist/\&c people together at this gathering; to make a
long story short, the event was a monumental and critical event
for gay liberation, and is still under appreciated.

In any case, Deke was one of a small number of gay and anarchist
people that attended the gathering from all over the country (St.
Louis MO in his case); all of us had experienced alienation from
the so-called ``gay community'', but also a sense of something
about to happen, which began to unfold in Toronto that summer.

Deke was the first person I recall to articulate just what was
happening to us there: that there were a lot of us who were
working to make a gay sensibility and community that drew from
gay history but was not a part of the assimilationism we saw
around us; the rest of the people present went through that
magical ``Me too!'' awareness that we were not each alone.

What went on that weekend was basic ``networking'' (to use that
icky word) and we are, two years later, still benefiting
incredibly from it. Upon return to St. Louis, Deke did another
issue of his zine, kept up correspondence with many of the people
from the Toronto \circleA\ gathering, and within a year had moved
to San Francisco, leading a wave of homo-punk immigrants.

It is not possible to say how much Deke has helped with HOMOCORE
zine. It would be more accurate to say that without him it may
not have continued, nor have been successful. He has provided
basic direction and energy, as well as ``shit work'' with
production. When I was ready to drop it, Deke kept orders and
correspondence current, and kept me going long enough to complete
the ``next'' issue.

Deke is extremely articulate (maybe too much so -- ask him!), and
our resident homo-punk intellectual. He is a good worker (with an
adequate coffee supply), and can speak well to large crowds
clearly and with humor. To not include him would not only hurt
him, but our radical gay community as well. Deke did not ask me
to write a letter of reference; I wrote it knowing only that he
was applying, and I think it's extremely important that you
include him. The NPA will benefit as much as he will.


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Sincerely,
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Tom Jennings
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