0.1 Note From Dean Esmay, Author Of The Straight Faq:
Description
This article is from the Internet Personals: Advice for Gay Men FAQ, by Fred Young nssf@greatwildwest.net and Dean Esmay esmay@syndicomm.com with numerous contributions by others.
0.1 Note From Dean Esmay, Author Of The Straight Faq:
When I wrote the first edition of THE STRAIGHT FAQ, a popular document to
help men and women meet each other online, it was much shorter than the
version currently in circulation. More than half of that document was
taken up with advice for men on how to deal with the apparent shortage of
women, and on how a man could attract a woman's attention in a crowded
field, with some supplemental info for women on how to deal with the
opposite problem. Thus it was called "The Straight FAQ," because
obviously gay men would not care about disparity in numbers between men
and women, and would not care about advice on how to attract the opposite
sex, some of which probably wouldn't apply to them, or would be just
different enough to make my advice wonky or nonsensical. However, I was
always open to having someone with experience in the gay community help me
write a FAQ for gay people, and after many months of asking online for
someone to help, Fred Young finally stepped forward.
Fred's done a remarkable job here; sometimes, by changing only a very few
words, he manages to take something I wrote take on a whole new meaning.
He also does a great job of seamlessly snipping out stuff that I wrote
that isn't relevant, while continuing with the same narrative flow.
Indeed, there are places where I can't tell where my words end and Fred's
begin.
As with The Straight FAQ, this FAQ has some limitations. It is written
to help gay men, but it doesn't speak to lesbians, who undoubtedly could
use much of this advice, but for whom some advice may apply differently,
and for whom other advice we haven't thought of here might be appropriate.
Similarly, we can't address things like those with an interest in S&M,
bondage, bestiality, threesomes, etc. Trying to address every possible
permutation of human matings is simply impossible. But my hope is that
people who want serious monogamous relationships find use of this FAQ, or
The Straight FAQ. I will also say that if anyone wants to do a FAQ for
lesbians, bisexuals, or whatever, I'll be happy to lend my support; just
shoot me a note and we'll talk.
With that, I'll let you move on to read Fred Young's excellent Not-So-
Straight FAQ. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to
write either Fred and/or myself.
Otherwise, enjoy!
Dean Esmay
7 September 1995
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