Stallion February 1984

ARTICLES & FICTION
26 "Self Portrait"
Interview by Doug Richards
30 "Gerhard" by Richard Umans
46 "The Bodybuilder as Hustler" by Ron Allen
60 "Daniel Holt" by Robert W. Richards
78 "Mamie Van Doren"
Interview by Evelyn Freedman
VISUALS
9 "The Lifeguard" from Malexpress
20 "The Switch Hitter" by Jeff Kirk
"The Racquet Bailer" by Patatas 33
40 "The Back Packer" from Malexpress Studios
49 "The Quarterback" from Malexpress Studios
73 "Fantasize" from TCS Studios
MONTHLY FEATURES
4 Stallion Quickies
14 Roundup (Film, Books, Theatre, Music)
18 Letters to Casey
56 Our Gay Heritage: Gays in Tennis
66 Stallion Contacts

EDITORIALLY SPEAKING
Between now and next November, the word "rainbow" will, hopefully, begin to mean something more to most homosexuals than just another Judy Garland imitation. In union there is power, politically speaking, and all across the country, civic-minded groups with an eye to the coming elections are striving to construct "rainbow coalitions" made up of diverse minority groups: Blacks, Hispanics, women, the elderly, the handicapped, and homosexuals. The strength of such alliances has been proven over and over again, in such places as Boston, Washington, and Houston. Indeed, there can be a pot of political gold at the end of such rainbows.
David Scondras, the first openly gay candidate for the Boston City Council, explained the phenomenon thus in a recent New York Times interview: "There's an acknowledgment, an understanding among blacks and women, that an openly gay person has a whole history of experience in what it's like to be left out, to feel hostility, to be devalued because you're different... The age of bigotry is eclipsing, and the age of coalition-building is beginning."
Minorities, however, tend to be fearful of one another, and those who should (because of their own experience) be the most prejudice-free are often the most vocal in their opposition to the rights of other minorities. Witness the vehement opposition registered by the unlikely coalition of Orthodox Jews and Catholics against Gay Rights in New York City.
We too must form our own coalitions. Out of political expediency can come the greater understanding that naturally evolves from strangers working together and getting acquainted with each other. Fearful generalizations can be replaced with the knowledge of specifics. And so, we remind you that you have an obligation as a citizen and as a homosexual to register to vote, and then to vote for those candidates who seem most likely to enrich your way of life. As Virginia Apuzzo, executive director of the National Gay Task Force, has said, "The veracity of the rainbow coalition for us is the consistency with which lavender is a part of it."
Well, haven't they always said politics makes strange bedfellows?
Jerry Douglas
Editor