Badpuppy Gay Today |
Tuesday, 11 March, 1997 |
Homan, the only magazine in the world catering to persecuted gay and lesbian Iranians, men and women who live under the constant threat of death, regularly publishes lead articles by Badpuppy's GayToday editor, Jack Nichols. Nichols, though an American with Scottish ancestry, speaks Persian and credits Iranian culture, over 2,500 years old, with a kind of passionate male camaraderie he fears will be lost if the Ayatollah's anti-sex henchmen have their way. Neither is Nichols happy, he says, with the treatment heterosexual women get under a fundamentalist religious rule presently making Iranian youths--gay and straight--regimented and unhappy. Kay Tobin's 1972 history, "The Gay Crusaders," is quoted in Numbers 10 and 11 of Homan and is used to explain the origins of Nichols' concern for the progress of same-sex affections in this ancient land and for trailblazing paths he later took. Tobin's book says: "When Jack was about eleven, he became acquainted with the sons of Iranian diplomats stationed in Washington and began to form a kind of male friendship that was different from any he had known. "It was a new concept of friendship. I really loved it. I spent most of my time from ages eleven to fifteen with these Iranian kids. There was never homosexual sex, but we did kiss and hug and show affection, holding hands and holding each other close." Nichols describes himself in Homan as an impressionable child whose experiences would soon erupt into direct action helping promote--in America--the gay social revolution. In 1950, after he'd turned a city corner in the nation's capital, he had no way of knowing his meeting with another young boy would be remembered through decades of activism and romance. In Homan's pages Nichols says this early relationship showed him how "two boys can experience passionate Platonic love." This Persian boy, he says, beguiled him in a way he'd never thought possible, repeatedly saying "I love you," and hugging him close. "There was no sex in this dramatic show of affection," explains GayToday's editor, "but just blatant, unrelenting, passionate feeling." Nichols recalls no hint of embarrassment, even in front of Iranian parents. The Iranian, 12, often kissed young Nichols on the lips exclaiming "'You are always welcome under my roof." Homan is published in Sweden in both Persian (Farsi) and English sections. Subscription rates for 4 issues are 135 kroner in Europe and 170 kroner in other parts of the world. Sites in two U.S. locales sell the liberation magazine: (1.) Homan, P.O. Box 480691, Los Angeles, California, 90048, USA, and (2.) Homan, P.O. Box 4431, Winter Park, Florida, 32793, USA. "I support Homan," Nichols said, "because its is provocative and brave." |
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