'People say a lot of things about me, so I really don't pay any attention to it [ the rumor that I'm a lesbian ] . It's not true, but it is something that I have no control over. People will say what they want to say.' — Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to The Advocate, Oct. 9 issue.
'I mentioned [ to GLAAD's spokesman ] that I had recently seen a T-shirt that said, 'Marriage is for Fags.' I told him I found this to be a brilliant subversion not only of right-wing, anti-gay dogma but of certain reactionary liberal positions that equate marriage with patriarchal oppression. In other words, it cut through the hyperbole of both sides of the issue and landed squarely ( if ever so subtly ) in the pro-gay marriage camp. [ GLAAD's senior director of communications Marc ] McCarthy did not share my enthusiasm.' — Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum, Sept. 8. GLAAD's McCarthy, who is heterosexual, responded: 'That's upsetting. You're sending a confusing message to the straight community. By having a word that we're trying not to advocate next to a word like marriage ... it's just wrong on so many different levels.'
'Two years ago, I believed that civil unions were a fair alternative. Those beliefs, in my case, have changed. The concept of a 'separate but equal' institution is not something I can support. ... I have close family members and friends who are a member of the gay and lesbian community. Those folks include my daughter Lisa, as well as members of my personal staff. ... In the end, I couldn't look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationship—their very lives—were any less meaningful than the marriage I share with my wife Rana.' — Republican San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders on Sept. 19 as he signed a City Council resolution adding San Diego to a friend-of-the-court brief that urges the California Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage.
'A lot of people get up here and thank Jesus for helping them win this award, but I have to say nobody has been less helpful in getting me to this moment than Jesus. I don't know what I ever did to him, I just think he doesn't like me that much, and if he had his way, Caesar Milan would be holding this statue right now, but he's not and I am! So I guess all I can really say is: 'Suck it, Jesus! This statue is my God now!'' — Friend-of-gays actress Kathy Griffin accepting a Creative Emmy Award Sept. 8 for the reality TV series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. The E! Channel censored part of the remark on its Sept. 15 broadcast of the ceremony.
'Over the next two hours, there's only one subject that she firmly swats away. A recent Out magazine cover featured two models holding up pictures of her and Anderson Cooper's faces in front of their own, under the headline 'The Glass Closet: Why the Stars Won't Come Out and Play.' When asked if she has any response, Foster says, 'Was that the one with the Popsicle sticks?' Her thin lips tighten into a calm half smile of reproach: 'No, I have no response.'' — Entertainment Weekly in a preface to its Q&A interview with actress Jodie Foster, Sept. 4.
'I'm an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God. We celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids. They love it, and when they say, 'Are we Jewish?' or 'Are we Catholic?' I say, 'Well, I'm not, but you can choose when you're 18. But isn't this fun that we do seders and the Advent calendar?'' — Actress Jodie Foster to Entertainment Weekly, Sept. 4.
'I'm just like everyone else. If you do something stupid you have to pay the price. I've been doing some gardening and really enjoyed it. I'll do whatever they want me to do. I don't want any special treatment.' — Gay pop singer George Michael to London's Daily Express on Aug. 13 as he began his 100 hours of community service for driving while under the influence of drugs. He did some gardening at a hostel for the homeless. Michael also had his driver's license suspended for two years.
'I don't know whether lesbians hook up in airport ladies' rooms. Judging from my lesbian friends, they don't hook up at all. They fall in love, move in together, and start devoting themselves to home improvements. But if they do, on occasion, cruise airport restrooms in the manner of a U.S. Senator, what signaling techniques do they use? And could I have inadvertently been employing them?'—Barbara Ehrenreich writing at HuffingtonPost.com, Sept. 16.
'I'm hoping Larry Craig comes back and comes out. This will no doubt involve a tearful public renunciation of his past homophobia and a lifetime membership in the Log Cabin Republicans. But he'll meet plenty of guys, and in the end it will be so much easier not to have to pretend to take a leak every time he needs a little loving.' — Barbara Ehrenreich writing at HuffingtonPost.com, Sept. 16.
'A self-deluding hypocritical homophobic bigot.' — Legendary gay activist Frank Kameny, 82, on U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, to The New York Times, Sept. 23.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley