"Despite a still-mounting financial crisis, the disappearance of my already petty retirement fund thanks to the lawlessness of Wall Street, the monumental disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an anti-gay atmosphere in California that harkens back to Anita Bryant, I feel hopeful enough about our future to exercise some personal budget savings by abandoning the anti-depressants, sleeping pills and copious amounts of red wine that have been my coping mechanisms over the last eight years. Obama and Milk ( the movie ) came along just in time to pull me out of the dumps. Is that a queer coincidence or what? I think we need to look at what Obama will do for America that will ensure our inclusion, not what he will do for GLBT America. The financial crisis does not affect me because I am a lesbian, but it sure is making my future and that of my children feel a bit bleak. So let's see if we can shore up the economy through public policies that include our families in the process as a piece of the puzzle, not an independent, marginal part. We are in a post-civil rights moment here with a president who is flashing back to New Deal politics. Let's build something new from this opportunity." — International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick to this column, Jan. 15.
"I feel very hopeful seeing Obama take office. Hopeful about America's capacity for change, as illustrated by the historic election of an African American and child of an interracial marriage. Hopeful about a return to government that is not deliberately divisive, contemptuous of constitutional civil liberties and science, anti-gay and anti-secular, and indifferent to all but the rich. Hopeful that we can and will make great gains, even when the politicians themselves, inevitably, prefer to disappoint. I expect to see us win the freedom to marry in more states and advance the cause at the federal level, alongside federal and state advances against employment discrimination and in favor of greater visibility, recognition and inclusion." — Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson to this column, Jan. 15.
"Obama has the opportunity to give new expression to the United States' founding ideals of liberty, justice and equality by defending human rights—including the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, in the U.S. and worldwide. Whether he will seize this opportunity and bring real change is unclear. I live in hope. ... I doubt we will see an end to the ban on same-sex marriage, but the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy could well be shelved. Another possibility is Obama's endorsement of laws to protect LGBTI people against discrimination in employment, housing, education ... and the provision of goods and services." — Leading British gay activist Peter Tatchell to this column, Jan. 15.
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"I feel that for the first time in eight years, I can exhale, unclench my jaw and slow my pulse. For eight years we have been chained to our seats in a horror movie that won't end; finally as we watch the end credits roll and absorb the staggering body count—literal and figurative—we can breathe again. I remember what it feels like to hope and believe that the president is actually a good man." — National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell to this column, Jan. 15.
"While I'm obviously over the moon to have a Democrat back in the White House, I'm concerned about some of Obama's actions prior to taking office—his support for FISA and the Rick Warren fiasco in particular. His selection of Warren proves that the religious right will continue to have a friendly ear in the White House and that really pisses me off. Still, I have an expectation that Obama will follow through on his promises to repeal DADT and DOMA and will work with progressives on many causes important to the LGBT community. The first few months should prove very telling." — Popular gay blogger Joe.My.God. ( Joe Jervis ) to this column, Jan. 15.
"I am tired of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they're preaching, when the lights are off, they go cruising for trade." — The Rev. Al Sharpton from the pulpit of Atlanta's Tabernacle Baptist Church, Jan. 11.
"It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being delegated into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners. There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that God sent you." — The Rev. Al Sharpton from the pulpit of Atlanta's Tabernacle Baptist Church, Jan. 11.
"I don't think there's anything inherently dysfunctional about cottaging ( having sex in tearooms ) —but cottaging as George Michael? Yeah, there's something pretty dysfunctional about that. Right up until my arrest, I was still totally naïve about the level of homophobia. There's no question when I look back it really would have hurt me ( if I had come out sooner ) . I didn't realize how much I was protecting my career. I probably wouldn't have got to sing with Aretha Franklin, or to rise that high." — George Michael to London's Independent, Jan. 13.
"You don't pay an escort for sex. What you really pay an escort for is to leave after the sex." — George Michael to London's Independent, Jan. 13.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
