Crude letter?

Dear NAMBLA

I find it difficult to understand why NAMBLA would print the obscene letter from the South African retired Army officer (September, 1991 Bulletin). Why print the letter at all, but certainly why print it without editorial comment? NAMBLA is supposed to be a man/boy love association, not a man/boy fucking club. A sexual relationship with a boy is wonderful, fun, and fantastic; but South Africa's letter is crude and offensive, and his description of his sexual activity with boys indicates no resemblance to love or affection or caring. And who gives a fuck how long his dick is, erect or not?

For NAMBLA to print such a letter without any editorial comment implies an acceptance of the "fuck 'em and leave 'em" attitude strongly suggested in the letter. Or more specifically, "fuck 'em and give 'em a loaf of bread." This South Africa letter is the exact type of evidence that is presented to congress and other law making/enforcing agencies to justify further condemnation of NAMBLA.

California

Editor's note: The letter in question referenced part of our history that is hidden. What sort of a man/boy scenes have existed in South Africa? What about during the Korean War? How do man/boy lovers in these scenes think about themselves and their relationships? Into what language do they put their desires? With so much of our past (and our present) suppressed, it is tempting to grasp at whatever scraps come our way.

The letter was printed with awareness that it straddled certain boundaries of propriety. But it is worth sometimes testing those boundaries; they are certainly not the same for all readers of the Bulletin. Why is it necessarily "crude" and "offensive" to talk plainly about the kind of sex we like? I imagine most of the readers of this publication like the idea of sex with boys - of sucking, fucking, caressing, fondling, licking, hugging, kissing boys who want same. Is it wrong to speak plainly about these desires? Or must they be cloaked in romantic or altruistic intentions? Should we condemn boys or men who want sex without love or friendship, or who want money or loaves of bread in exchange for sex?

It could be that our South African writer is indeed thoughtless, pays only lip service to consent, and in fact sexually exploited boys who were materially desperate. Let's face it: many males in western societies are capable of sexual abuse; white men in South Africa of the writer's generation probably in fairly high proportion. But to pin those charges on our letter writer based just on what he says, which is all the evidence at hand, requires what I would argue are illegitimate presumptions.

source: Incoming letter and editor's response to this letter; 'Crude letter?'; NAMBLA Bulletin, Vol, 12, No, 9-12; November/December 1991