STRAIGHT ANSWERS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY FOR STRAIGHT READERS

Determined to beat ""homophobia,"" Loovis clarifies the gay life with over 300 blunt questions and explicit answers dealing with bedroom behavior, the ""most dangerous"" game of S & M, the baths, trucks, bars, and beaches where homosexuals ""cruise"" for someone who ""arouses their concupiscence."" He argues that if non-commitment, lust, kinky sex, and infidelity are prevalent among gays, the same can be said, today, about heterosexual jocks. He also dismisses (""nuts"") the notion of a genetic predisposition toward homosexuality in favor of the ""aesthetic theory"" that an erotic preference for men supersedes a homosexual's erotic interest in the female sex. ""There are men who respond to other men as beautiful, as proper conduits for them of their esteem, adoration. . . and love."" Such men who ""come out"" are gaining more respect, particularly on college campuses where not only is it ""in"" to be gay or bisexual, ""it is to hold some admired secret of a full life."" Nonetheless, Loovis notes, strong prejudices still exist in business, and conventional parents have trouble adjusting to a homosexual son. Both camps, however, are more likely to be won over by Alan Ebert's shaded portrayals in The Homosexuals (p. 389) than by this hard-edged sell.