An Editor

I’m grateful that many people I know in a professional capacity are writing notes in support of my right to free expression. Most of these notes are too specific about my career to post, but here’s one that speaks to the content of this blog. I’ve withheld the writer’s name for reasons of discretion.

To whom it may concern,

I am a writer and editor who worked in publishing for thirty years. I first encountered the man behind Jefferson in two-thousand-and-three when he wrote an article for the newspaper where I served as Editor. The final piece was well reported, well written and insightful, and we gave it a full page.

In early two-thousand-and-five, he told me that he was also writing a blog, One Life, Take Two, under the pseudonym “Jefferson.” I visited the site and read it from time to time. I found his stories and vignettes about his children charming and light-hearted, with a gentle edge of irony. I was personally less interested in other stories that were more explicit in terms of sexual diversity, though I thought they were also well done. I understood the literary effect he was after in the juxtaposition of these two story lines: by writing about parenting, he put a human face on the character he was developing. “Jefferson” comes across as an ordinary man in circumstances some readers would find extraordinary.

I understand that he is now being asked to curtail his writing. This strikes me as unfortunate, as creative artists should not have to limit themselves and their freedom of expression in order to meet the requirements of a court or an unhappy former spouse, requirements that might fluctuate from case to case. Certainly a writer of his proven ability should be allowed to write freely. I don’t want to imagine an America where literature devoid of fiber is the unavoidable result of being forced through a sieve of censorship and repression.

Sincerely,

An Editor

Make an ANONYMOUS, TAX-DEDUCTIBLE contribution to Jefferson’s legal defense by visiting the Sexual Freedom Defense and Education Fund at:

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