Rough Trade May 1998

09 EDITORIAL
MONOGAMY???
10 FICTION
THE ASS PUCKER
14 ANTHONY MANGETTI
FORUM STUDIOS
24 RICK FLARE
ALL WORLDS VIDEO
36 CARL ERIK
CENTAUR FILMS
46 MARC LANG
OH MAN! STUDIOS
54 M. VICENTE
MARCO STUDIOS
64 REVIEW
SUMMER REUNION
70 RHETT POWERS
STUDIO 2000

EDITORIAL NOTE
MONOGAMY???
If you look up the word in the dictionary it will explain that it means "being married to only one person at a time." I checked several dictionaries and they all said the same thing. None of them mentioned anything about married to one and fucking another. None of them mentioned fucking more than one person. We have come to accept the term as a state of commitment to one person. Sex supposedly has nothing to do with it.
Is monogamy a talked about thing in the gay community? Of course it is. Because we are all committed to safe sex or no sex, a monogamous relationship with someone negative is the way to stay negative. However, with the human biological urge to climax there are not too many who can honestly commit to monogamy. No gay man known to me could honestly say that if being put in a position to enjoy an incredible hunk, even though in a relationship, would have to say they were tempted. Some go all the way and never see the person again.
Open relationships? There are many of those. Two guys get together and fuck together and then live together. If one of them happens to chance upon an alternative partner for a session, it is okay; but they cannot move in. Sometimes, there is a rule that one has to tell the other that they had an encounter and that it was SAFE.
Three-ways? Of course there are three-ways all the time. In a situation where one partner is 40 and the other is 20, the 20-year-old needs more sex than the 40-year-old, so the 40year-old brings in a THIRD to keep the 20-year-old happy as long as the 40-year-old is being kept happy at the same time. How long do the three-ways last? The relationship usually ends up in a disaster. Most often the 20-year-old finds another 20-year-old and they run off to Fire Island to live happily ever after.
So, is there MONOGAMY in the gay community? I'm sure there is but I can't find it. When you interview a couple, you get such statements of love and commitment, you feel they will last forever. Then a week later you see one of the couple cruising in a bar and leaving with someone, not his lover. Remember, I am looking at a 30-year history of knowing relationships and even with the introduction of disease, I see no difference in relationships. Some couples are staying together longer for financial reasons, but we are still all whores at heart.
All of you who have written with questions on this subject in the mail, on the Internet, on the phone...relax! You are not alone with your dilemma. It has been like this since year one.