'Over the 12 years we've been together—we just celebrated our 12th anniversary—our sex life has evolved. We've done things, and very occasionally people, that we sure didn't think we'd be doing when we first started going out. We never say no to each other either. Sometimes we say 'not now, later.' But never 'no.' If he wants to try something, we do it. If I want to try something, we do it.' — Syndicated sex-advice columnist Dan Savage on his relationship with his partner Terry, to the Chicago gay magazine Nightspots, Feb. 7.
'Gay people sometimes have odder fetishes. Being gay can create all sorts of interesting pressures, which can result in interesting fetishes. Also, being gay is just more complicated. But straight people tend to have more angst about their fetishes. The gay readers are, obviously, less hung up on being 'normal' than straight readers.' — Syndicated sex-advice columnist Dan Savage to the Chicago gay magazine Nightspots, Feb. 7.
'The idea of invading a country for no good reason, triggering a civil war, killing and dislocating tens of thousands of civilians, destroying the infrastructure of a nation, creating a safe haven for criminals and terrorists, and then walking out and leaving behind total chaos that will destabilize the region for decades, is not my notion of responsible foreign policy. If there was any evidence that massive escalation would secure Iraq and that Iraqi leaders had the will and power to build on that security, it would be worth a shot on behalf of the world and future generations. However, there is no such evidence.' — Syndicated gay-press writer Ann Rostow in the San Francisco Bay Times, Jan. 25.
'I've been called a bitch—and a lot worse—for years. And you know what, so what? People who think that aren't going to change their minds. And I wouldn't dream of sending them to therapy to 'rehabilitate' their feelings. How absurd. Please, I call all my gay friends 'big fags.'' — Actress Sharon Stone on the Isaiah Washington brouhaha, to the New York Post, Jan. 30.
'The people who want to ban words are all too easily tempted to want to ban books and films that contain those words no matter the widely varying contexts—affirmative, playful, ironic, historical—in which those words are used. ... Is it even possible to ban 'faggot'? After all, thirty years ago writer Larry Kramer published a rather lame satire he titled 'Faggots.' How would we deal with that? And if we want to ban 'faggot' what about other abusive terms gays have been called: fairy, pansy, fruit, homo, queer? Are we to ban those words as well? Is that a path we want to start down? Many of us have been called these words and most of us resent their use, but is that a justification for wholesale 'linguistic cleansing'?' — Syndicated gay-press columnist Paul Varnell commenting on the Isaiah Washington brouhaha in a Jan. 28 filing.
'A number of scholars are exploring the increasingly visible subculture of 'ursine' gay guys and their admirers. What fascinates these scholars is that self-identified bears have created a kind of counterculture, with its own language, values and rituals.' — Hunter College English professor Richard Kaye writing in the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 4.
— Assistance: Bill Kelley
