"If I weren't the most famous lesbian in the world, no one would notice. But everyone was watching us like we were the only lesbians on the planet. That alone made being together difficult. ... We became such a target. Everyone had something to say about our relationship and we tried to space everything out and just work on our own problems, but that became harder and harder. ... Eventually, the problems became too much to bear. ... I thought we were going to grow old together and we'd be there for each other for the rest of our lives." &emdash; Ellen DeGeneres on her breakup with Anne Heche to Britain's Now magazine, March 22.
"On a scale of one to ten, I'll give him a 20. He's all man. I wish every man were so gay." &emdash; Ines Misan, singer Ricky Martin's new gal-pal, as quoted in Britain's The Sun, March 22.
"If somebody asks me if I'm gay, it's like no, I'm not gay, I'm bisexual." &emdash; Actor Gabriel Romero who plays the gay doctor Fernando on Telemundo's Los Beltran, to The Advocate, March 27.
"You have all these people pushing you to come out. And then you do it; in my case it was partly in response to Matthew Shepard's death. And then these same people say, 'Why did you make such a big deal about that? Everybody already knew.' You can't win. But I'm glad I did it; I don't have to be coy anymore." &emdash; Actor Nathan Lane ( Birdcage ) to Out magazine, April issue.
"I met these two girls at a party and I was fascinated with the idea of whether it was easier to understand one another when you're both girls. ... You can fall in love with anything, it's the sparkle in their eyes. Or it might be spiritual." &emdash; Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell to Britain's Attitude magazine, March 27.
"There appear to be significant numbers of people [ police officers ] who are either ignorant or racist or homophobic or a terrible combination of all three." &emdash; Washington, D.C., Police Executive Assistant Chief Terrance Gainer after an investigation revealed that D.C. cops have sent each other hundreds of vulgar, racist and homophobic messages via their in-car computers, to the Washington Post, March 28.
"It's very special and almost unreal." &emdash; Henk Krol, publisher of The Netherlands' De Gay Krant magazine and the father of the Dutch gay marriage movement, as The Netherlands became the first nation to let gay people get married under ordinary marriage laws, on April 1. Several other nations have special registered-partnership laws for gays that withhold a few or several of the rights and benefits of full marriage.
"Can non-Dutch gay and lesbian couples marry in The Netherlands? Yes, provided that at least one of the pair already lives in The Netherlands [ for four months ] ." &emdash; Dutch gay legal scholar Kees Waaldijk, March 30.
"Real fidelity has nothing to do with monogamy. Real fidelity is something else, something in your soul, something that attaches you to each other. Monogamy can be a sort of contract if you choose it. But if you marry, you don't have to choose monogamy. You have to choose fidelity." &emdash; Gay groom Peter Wittebrood-Lemke just before his marriage to Frank Wittebrood April 1 in Amsterdam. The Netherlands is the first nation to let gay people marry under the ordinary marriage laws.
"Maybe you've been told that homosexuals are not monogamous. I think they are more honest. A lot of heterosexuals are like homosexuals, but they do it in hiding. Homosexuals are more honest." &emdash; Gay groom Frank Wittebrood just before his marriage to Peter Wittebrood-Lemke April 1 in Amsterdam.
"I'm very angry that Warner Brothers won't make an official announcement because I look like an idiot. I constantly say, 'No, I'm not doing [ my show anymore ] and no one believes me. It's final. It's been final for two years, but that's not the way Warner Brothers would like it, and I understand. They've made a lot of money." &emdash; Rosie O'Donnell, March 31.
"The Republic of Namibia does not allow homosexuality, lesbianism here. Police are ordered to arrest you and deport you and imprison you." &emdash; Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia, March 19.
"This is historic for the transgender community. But I don't put my sexual identity first. Above all, I am a citizen." — New Paris City Councillor Camille Cabral, the first transgendered person elected to public office in France, to Gay.com France, March 18. Paris also elected an openly gay mayor, Bertrand Delanoe.
"Michael Petrelis is a fly buzzing in the ear of the medical establishment in San Francisco. ... Michael's lifelong crusade is to hold AIDS organizations accountable to their constituencies ( that is, gay men who are labelled HIV-positive ) . He regularly publishes the salaries of the top AIDS honchos, and regularly challenges hysterical AIDS statistics—most of which he manages to prove inaccurate. His latest muckraking revealed that two top executives of San Francisco AIDS organizations can also be found having condomless sex on pornographic Web sites. Yeah, he's a shit-kicker." — Sky Gilbert writing in Toronto's Eye, March 22.
"I have mixed feelings about the show ending after one season. On the one hand, I'm relieved, because taping a one-hour show for television and then doing three live hours of radio every day was exhausting. On the other hand, I'm very proud of the show and sad we won't continue. We set out to create a program that offered daytime audiences a true alternative and we succeeded. I believe it could have earned a substantial audience in time, but the television advertiser boycott [ organized by gay activists ] precluded that." — Dr. Laura Schlessinger as her television program was cancelled March 29.