http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1871903,00.html
You have built an empire by marketing a liberal view of sexuality. Is there anything in your life that you are conservative about? Beth Nolcox, NEW YORK CITY
Well, yes. I was raised in a very traditional home, and I’m still a very traditional fellow. My problem is the labels of conservative and liberal don’t usually work very well for me. I’m not a guy, for example, who believes in political correctness. I think people ought to be people and shouldn’t be so concerned with the fact that their neighbors are different than they are.
How much have views of sex changed since you started Playboy? Jeff Wolman SILVER SPRING, MD.
I think sex in America has changed dramatically, and young people don’t have any real notion as to how much. When I first published Playboy, nice young people did not live together before they got married. Having a baby out of wedlock was a scandal that drove some people to suicide. Oral sex was illegal. Playboy played a major part in changing all that.
How do you feel about Proposition 8? Do you feel it is fair to treat gay people as second-class citizens? Richard Meyer, SAN FRANCISCO
I believe gays should have the same rights as everybody else, and they should have the right to marry. We have a Constitution to protect us against mob rule. If we simply went by what is popular, black men probably wouldn’t have equal rights.