' [ S ] tanding up in front of my family and my spouse's and saying the vows out loud has me in a state of butterflies. I can go on TV and barely break a sweat, but I'm terrified of performing in front of my own family. I'm scared I'll lose it. I bawled through the last same-sex wedding I went to. You fight for something, never expecting it to happen, let alone to you, and then it does, and it can overwhelm.' — Gay author Andrew Sullivan writing on his blog Aug. 16 about his upcoming wedding in Provincetown. Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts.
'I just returned from Denmark and Sweden, where nobody cares about the gays. In Denmark gay marriage is legal and in Sweden it might as well be. Most of Western Europe and Canada are the same, with full marriage equality or at least equivalent rights. Straight people leave gays alone and let them live their lives and, except for the requisite pockets of religious fanaticism, no one cares. Either they are more enlightened, not poisoned by religion or just drunk most of the time, but nobody cares about the gays.' — Jim David, writing at The Huffington Post, Aug. 12.
'I was fixated on architecture and interiors, which of course had everybody worried. I had a really butch father—so butch I thought maybe he was a closet case. He was an FBI agent and a sports lover, and the only sport I could even participate in was swimming, because it was nice and clean and you didn't sweat.' — Gay fashion maven and TV personality Tim Gunn ( Project Runway ) to Out magazine, September issue.
'Having a relationship takes time, and I don't have any. I'd have to give something up, and I don't know what I'd be willing to give up. But I'm the luckiest guy in the world. There's something about living in a gay mecca that's very purging and cathartic. I'm thrilled that all these people are having relationships and relieved that I'm not being asked to leave somebody's home because they're over me.' — Fashion maven and TV personality Tim Gunn ( Project Runway ) to Out magazine, September issue. In 1982, Gunn's partner of nine years ended their relationship as they sat together on the sofa watching TV, saying: 'I don't have the patience for you. I can't do this anymore.'
'We are done taping it; we taped 100 episodes—so, it's been on the air longer than Gilligan's Island. I can't believe it.' — Queer Eye star Carson Kressley to San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times, Aug. 16. ( The 'for the Straight Guy' part of the show's name was dropped in the third season. )
'Merv Griffin was gay. ... We can refer to it casually in conversation, but the mainstream media somehow remains trapped in the Dark Ages when it comes to labeling a person as gay. Maybe that helps explain why Griffin, who died of prostate cancer Sunday at 82, stayed in the closet throughout his life. Perhaps he figured it was preferable to remain the object of gossip rather than live openly as 'one of them.' But how tremendously sad it is that a man of Merv's renown, of his gregarious nature and social dexterity, would feel compelled to endure such a stealthy double life even as the gay community's clout, and its levels of acceptance and equality, rose steadily from the ashes of ignorance.' — Ray Richmond writing in the Hollywood Reporter, Aug. 17.
'A Royal LePage float asks me if I'm looking for a house with a bigger closet. BC Hydro urges me to use energy more responsibly. Women in bunny ears and tails better suited to the Playboy mansion urge me to sign up for AZZ Wireless. Fatburger urges me to buy their food.' — Robin Perelle, managing editor of the Vancouver gay newspaper Xtra! West, writing about the city's gay pride parade in the Aug. 16 issue.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
