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Letter from Jonah

The next NAMBLA mailing will be a revised and expanded fourth edition of Boys Speak Out on Man/Boy Love, produced by the San Francisco workgroup.

Here is an excerpt which has not been published yet. It was lost for a while, and has recently been found with some other papers. It was originally sent to the New York Post Office box not too long ago.

Dear NAMBLA,

I am twelve and my name is Jonah. I have a lover, Mark. He is twenty-five. We have been together for a year and a half.

My mother I thought didn't mind. But it turned out that she just wasn't saying anything. Then I found out that my whole family didn't approve of my relationship with Mark. Mark has called for me, but I never got his messages. So I started sneaking out at night to see him. He tells me that sneaking out is not good, but when we touch it makes it worth it for me.

That was the last time I saw him for a while. My mom and dad must have found out that I was sneaking out to see him, because when I got home that day after school there were bars on my bedroom window. When I went to ask my dad why, I heard him on the phone. Then I heard the name, Mark, I got excited. Then my dad got mad and told Mark that if he called or talked to me again he would call the police on him.

After he hung up the phone I ran out of the house and went over to Mark's house. By the time I got there Mark was drunk and had his friend Jason over (another young boy). I thought something was going on so I listened by an open window. Mark was crying and telling Jason how much he loved me. I started crying, too. Then I heard him say if we couldn't be together he was going to kill himself. That's when I ran in and grabbed him and we sat and cried together.

I love him and it's not like a father or a brother, but like a lover. And if anything happened to him, I would kill myself. I can't turn to anyone for support. I went to [...] to a bookstore and found your magazine.

I want Mark to know I really do love him. Please respond to the address that is in here - it's a friend's.

Signed (Is there anybody out there?)

The prisoner, Jonah


[This letter is even more poignant if you could see the original. The spelling has been corrected, and names and places changed to protect the innocent.]