'I've marched on Washington three times: twice for reproductive freedom and once for gay and lesbian rights, and it was very empowering for me. The political side of this has been important to me for a very long time.' — Actress Cybill Shepherd, now starring on The L Word, to Los Angeles' Lesbian News, January issue.
'I love gay. I wanted to be gay. Please let me be gay.' — Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington on the red carpet at the Golden Globes, Jan. 15, according to the Associated Press.
'I apologize to T.R. [ Knight ] , my colleagues, the fans of the show and especially the lesbian and gay community for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance. I marred what should have been a perfect night for everyone who works on Grey's Anatomy. I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.' — Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington apologizing Jan. 18 for telling reporters backstage at the Golden Globes: 'No, I did not call T.R. a faggot. Never happened, never happened.' Washington later admitted calling Knight a faggot on the show's set last October.
'It made all the difference in the world [ when you came out ] . It's just very moving and it just meant so much.' — Openly gay Grey's Anatomy actor T.R. Knight to Ellen DeGeneres on her Jan. 17 show.
'What's gay rehab? .... Is he watchin' Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? Is Rosie givin' him a good talkin' to? Gay rehab, that sounds like traffic school. You should be able to do that online.' — Comedian Wanda Sykes discussing the Isaiah Washington 'faggot' brouhaha with Ellen DeGeneres on her Jan. 26 show.
'Being Black, usually we're on the receiving end of bigoted and discriminatory remarks, so for him to say it, I guess we have overcome. Maybe gay is the newBlack now.' — Comedian Wanda Sykes discussing the Isaiah Washington 'faggot' brouhaha with Ellen DeGeneres on her Jan. 26 show.
'There are no rules anymore. The squeamishness and the sting of saying someone is gay is removed and now anything goes. [ But ] it's just weird that the media feel that they have to protect an Anderson Cooper. But the media goes along with the deception. The press is willing to out Clay Aiken or David Gest because it's okay to out a freak or an oddball. [ But ] they protect their own prejudices by not saying someone like them is gay.' — Village Voice columnist Michael Musto in an interview with syndicated Canadian gay columnist Richard Burnett, Jan. 18. Musto has just published a book of some of his more memorable columns.
'I'm delighted I'm about to have a sixth grandchild, Wolf, and obviously think the world of both of my daughters and all of my grandchildren. And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question. ... I just fundamentally disagree with your perspective.' — U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney Jan. 24 when CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked him: 'Your daughter Mary, she's pregnant. All of us are happy. She's going to have a baby. You're going to have another grandchild. Some of the—some critics, though, are suggesting, for example, a statement from someone representing Focus on the Family: 'Mary Cheney's pregnancy raises the question of what's best for children. Just because it's possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father, doesn't mean it's best for the child.' Do you want to respond to that?'
'I have contributed to Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign because she has a mind of her own and a very strong one at that. I like the way she thinks. She is very savvy and a smart leader with years of experience in government, diplomacy and politics.' — Elizabeth Taylor in a Jan. 25 statement.
'The Age of Aquarius meant free love for everyone except gay people. I felt isolated and remember asking girls who wanted me to sign their breasts if they had any paper. I always had this feeling if I outed myself too soon and we sold one less album that they would blame me. It's better [ now ] . Sony has a gay label. In my time, the only gay label was faggot.' — '70s rock star Chuck Panozzo, the bass player in Styx, to POZ magazine, February issue. Panozzo also is openly HIV-positive.
''Civil union' is the almost-right word, but not the right one. It constitutes a separate status. This is not equality. Yes, the status gives same-sex couples state legal rights that married couples enjoy. But civil unions do not bestow upon them that all-important word, married, a universally understood sign of commitment and social acceptance.' — The Hartford ( Conn. ) Courant newspaper in a Jan. 21 editorial.
'Fifteen years ago GLAAD attempted to get my column cut from the SF Weekly, calling it a hate crime on account of my fondness for the word 'faggot.' Now they've nominated me for their outstanding newspaper columnist award, which is great—it beats having to go on the radio with someone from GLAAD and defend my writing. But they nominated me as 'Dan Savage ( The New York Times ) .' I'm not a columnist for The New York Times. Unless GLAAD has the inside scoop on an impending job offer, I doubt I'll be a New York Times columnist by the time the awards are handed out.' — Gay writer Dan Savage, syndicated columnist, book author and editor of the Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger, in a Jan. 22 e-mail to this column.
''Gay' is the new 'Straight'. All across the country so many of us are striving to be the models of heteronormativity. Instead of demanding access to public services for which we all pay taxes, there is increasing pressure to commit ourselves to standards set by the people who deny us our very rights and privileges. Fidelity between two ( or three or four ) partners is a great thing; there is a lot to be said for developing that kind of love. I'm a one-at-a-time kind of a guy and I love my one guy dearly. Still, I am not going to present any relationship of mine as a 'marriage'. Marriage is an institution devoted to establishing inequalities. Let's not forget that here in America, the 'tradition of marriage' is boosted by followers of a book that is anathema to treating gays as people.' — A Texas college professor writing on his blog at cllcanuck.blogspot.com, Jan. 25.
'I have no desire to have children of my own. My civil partner is equally happy childless. As a result, for us, the question of gay adoption is academic. Indeed, we often wonder why some of our friends, intent on adopting, can't settle for a Shih-tzu and a couple of Persian cats like any normal gay couple.' — David Self, author of the Lion Encyclopedia of Christianity, writing in Britain's Telegraph, Jan. 28.
'Oral and anal sex are not pleasurable and have no benefit at all to those who take part in it. Most of them [ gays ] , if they are to be honest, will admit that the parts with which they engage in the unnatural sexual acts are always painful.' — Kenya Anti-Rape Movement founder Fatma Anyanzwa to the Sunday Nation newspaper Jan. 28 after African gays and lesbians made a big, groundbreaking splash at the recent World Social Forum in Nairobi.
'Go ahead and vote for the same-sex marriages. You won't be glad you did when you start noticing more natural disasters or epidemics! Why do you think homosexuals get AIDS? It's judgement sent to them from God. God sends judgement to those who commit sin, and that's everyone, including myself. I thank God for sending me judgement so I can be reminded from day to day that I am a sinner. For those who don't know God sent Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans because that city is what I call 'Sin City of the U.S.' Did you know the name Katrina means purifier?' — Reader Michael Guyer of Neoga, Ill., in a letter to the Journal Gazette in Mattoon, Ill., Jan. 20.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
