"I am really proud of 'Ellen,' but I tried to do something that didn't work. I tried to incorporate educational things about what people actually go through when they're coming out, and it wasn't funny. Because it's not funny. And that's why it failed. And by 'failed' I mean 'got canceled.' But the new show has nothing to do with that one. The only thing they have in common is that I'm in it. Oh, and the characters are both named Ellen. And I'm a gay person again! But this time everyone in the world happens to know that I'm gay, so it's dealt with very matter-of-factly, much as my being a woman is going to be dealt with, or having blond hair. We're not out to shock anyone." ... Ellen DeGeneres to The New York Times, Aug. 18.
"Gay, gay, gay all the time."... Ellen DeGeneres' assessment of Will & Grace, to The New York Times, Aug. 18.
"It would have been so different if I had met a gay person [ instead of Anne Heche ] at that time. A gay person would never have encouraged me to do any of the things I did, because a gay person would have known what would happen." ... DeGeneres to The New York Times.
"One survey by the Stop AIDS Project, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco, found that the number of men who reported using a condom 'every time' during anal sex dropped to 49.7 percent in 2000 from 69.6 percent in 1994. In that same time, the survey found, the number of men having such unprotected sex with more than one partner increased to 48.8 percent from 23.4 percent. One-third of those men said that they either did not know their partners' H.I.V. status or that they knew it was different from their own." ... The New York Times, Aug. 20.
"Dr. Grant Colfax, the director of H.I.V. Prevention Studies at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and his colleagues found that men who met sexual partners on the Internet were more than four times more likely to have unprotected sex with a partner of unknown or opposite H.I.V. status." ... The New York Times, Aug. 20.
"From dem a par inna chi chi man car/Blaze de fire mek we bun them!! ( Bun dem!! ) /From de a drink inna chi chi man bar/Blaze de fire mek we dun dem!! ( Dun dem!! ) " ... Lyrics from the current hit song Chi Chi Man by Jamaica's top-selling band, TOK. Gay activists say the song advocates chasing down gays and setting them on fire.
"I had one of those rare moments when I was speechless recently when I heard that the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association ( NLGJA ) was going to allow three of the nation's most sickly anti-gay personalities to speak at its convention in Dallas in September. The three stooges slated to appear as of this writing are: Michael Johnston, a leader of the 'ex-gay' movement and president of Keruso Ministries, headquartered in Newport News, Va.; Peter LaBarbera, director of Keruso's Americans for Truth ( about homosexuality ) Project and longtime publisher of The Lambda Report, and local homophobe Brian Camenker, the Newton man whose obsession with homosexuality has made him a fixture on the anti-gay scene in these parts. Each of these men had made it his personal mission do whatever each think is necessary to stop progress on our civil rights." ... Jeff Epperly, editor of Boston's Bay Windows, in an Aug. 16 editorial.
"I'm sure I wouldn't have dropped out of college and moved to New York City if I hadn't grown up watching That Girl. I was certain my life would be complete if only I could get totally overdressed and go fly a kite in Central Park. I'm sorry, but That Girl must have been created by gay men. No one but a gay man would think to dress Marlo Thomas in that floral print number with the matching parasol." ... Columnist Marc Acito, Just Out, Portland, Ore., Aug. 17.
"I love Emmett and I'm proud of him. Politically, I believe in him wholeheartedly. As an artist and as an actor, it's important to me for people to know that I'm not Emmett and [ am ] capable of playing straight roles. It's not about homophobia. For me, it's not about nellyphobia. I'm an actor." ... Peter Page, Emmett on Showtime's Queer As Folk, to Genre magazine, September issue.
"I am straightly oriented. It's a trip for me [ kissing a guy ] . The scenes I have with Mathew [ St. Patrick ] are the first love scenes I've done on screen, period. So it was an incredibly technical experience. Whose elbow is where and make sure you're this and you're that. But it was fine. It was a challenging scene." ... Michael C. Hall who plays gay undertaker David Fisher on HBO's Six Feet Under, to Genre magazine, September issue.
"The 80's were pretty bleak times. I wanted some joy in my life. And this makes me incredibly happy." ... Former U.S. presidential adviser Ben Schatz on his new life as a drag performer with the gay a cappella singing group The Kinsey Sicks, to The New York Times, Aug. 22.
"In [ my ] show, I talk a lot about going into sex clubs and having sex in sex clubs. ... I would rather go into a sex club than endure the embarrassment of a first date. I was doing activity [ in the clubs ] that was so safe, almost not sexual. I didn't view it as sexual. I'm just afraid of boredom and loneliness. More than death. [ Eventually, I stopped going. ] It was boring and I got lonely. I was lonely there. I was around people there who were not interesting. Just because you are a sexual libertine doesn't mean you are great conversationalist." ... Comedian Margaret Cho to the Miami Herald, Aug. 23.
"He's a homosexual man. There's a difference between being gay and being homosexual, so I'm informed. He doesn't act it out or march in parades or festivals. ... John, in his normal life, is a businessman and author and actor, and he dresses very conservatively." ... John Henderson Mitchell on his son, John Cameron Mitchell, star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, to the Ottawa [ Canada ] Citizen, Aug. 25.
"He doesn't flaunt it [ his homosexuality ] ." ... Joan Mitchell on her son, John Cameron Mitchell, star of Hedwig and the Angry Itch, to the Ottawa [ Canada ] Citizen, Aug. 25.
"I've got everything I wanted, but it's time to share it. So I'm sort of in a quandary. I'm open to seeing other people, but there's no one to see. And when you add the celebrity thing, that's difficult. Usually you meet people where you work. But I can't do that. Who am I going to date, [ Producers co-star ] Matthew? Basically I'm dating Matthew Broderick right now. And he won't put out." ... Openly gay actor Nathan Lane, star of the Broadway hit The Producers, to The New York Times, Sept. 2.
"He hasn't exactly moved in. We prefer to call it 'crashing.' He makes his own bed, takes away his dirty laundry and tiptoes in when he comes in late at night. Sometimes I feel like I have two husbands." ... New Yorker Mark Hsiao on New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who is living with Hsiao and his husband Howard Koeppel due to Giuliani's marital problems at home at Gracie Mansion, to The Los Angeles Times, Sept. 2.
