"I think [ George W. Bush is ] a laughable, stupid asshole. Every time he opens his mouth, he hangs himself a little bit more. I hope that by the time the election rolls around, he will have hung himself so successfully that he won't run for anything except the door. It just makes me cringe every time I hear him open his mouth." ... Author and veteran gay/AIDS activist Larry Kramer in an interview with this column.
" [ Queer As Folk's Pittsburgh ] is such a crock. You can't find the homosexuals in Pittsburgh, much less the gay bars. I know they're there, but, boy, are they low-profile. The thought that all that is taking place in Pittsburgh is just hyperbole of a grand order. ... It's a very nice town. It's very conservative and straight. There's an awful lot of churches. It's pleasant. It's hard to find a great meal. But people are exceedingly nice." ... Author and veteran gay/AIDS activist Larry Kramer, who recently lived in Pittsburgh for six months before, during and after his liver transplant, in an interview with this column, Aug. 31.
"They can blow anthrax up my ass with a straw, I'm not leaving this city. I will stay here and go down with my ship if it has to go down." ... Gay actor Mario Cantone, who plays the bitchy Anthony Marantino on HBO's Sex And The City, to Miami's The Weekly News, Aug. 22.
"All I know is they [ the terrorists ] blew up my buildings ... then the Europeans are turning on us. These French people: 'Your foreign policy' and 'You really need to look at it' and 'You arrogant Americans.' It's like you know what, you'd be speaking German if it wasn't for us, so shut up and eat your foie gras." ... Cantone.
"I grew up with my sister who's a lesbian. And when she came out of the closet, as she put it, I thought, wow, that makes sense. She was always the one who wanted to be the Lone Ranger, and I guess I was Tonto." ... Singer Cyndi Lauper to Miami's The Weekly News, Aug. 29.
"I actually have more respect for people who are in the closet. You end up exposing so much of yourself because you have to talk about your sexual life. You shouldn't have to talk about it. I don't like people who lie. But if you don't talk about it, it's like you're too pussy to talk about it, which I didn't want to be. I would say, 'Do it quickly and quietly at the beginning of your career.'" ... Actor Randy Harrison, Justin on Queer As Folk, to The Advocate, Sept. 17.
"Ninety percent of Americans don't care what you [ gays ] do; 10 percent are fanatics. They think you're going to hell, and they want you to go to hell. All right? Ignore them." ... Bill O'Reilly, of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, to The Advocate, Sept. 17.
"There's two great things about going out dancing in San Diego ( three if you count the fact that you're not in Phoenix ) . By the time you retire back to your hotel room, or any other room for that matter, you do not reek of cigarette smoke. The other thing is the Marines always seem to want you to lead." ... Columnist Jeff Ofstedahl in the Phoenix gay magazine Echo, Aug. 15. California bans smoking in bars.
" [ In regard to ] professional gay [ activists ] whose religion is their sexual orientation ... their belief system was flash frozen in the distant past, and they seem incapable of intellectual inquiry or spiritual growth. Their petulant refusal to engage your ideas or mine a decade ago has been one of many factors in their steady cultural marginalization. Their usual tactics of slander and ostracism didn't work with us, since we were already fully formed thinkers and writers, but many dissident gays were effectively silenced." ... Openly gay author Camille Paglia in an e-mail exchange with gay writer Andrew Sullivan, accessible at www.andrewsullivan.com .
"All too often in the 'gay Meccas,' the idea starts going around that male relationships don't work and won't last, so why even try. It's like a virus that affects the vitality of one's ability to make meaningful contact, to seek love, to reach out and connect and do the work of building intimacy." ... Columnist and psychotherapist Betty Berzon, PlanetOut.com, Sept. 5.
"I was taught as a Catholic...and I went to Catholic school...that you don't interpret the Bible literally, it's an allegory, that the lessons are there as parables ... to teach people humane behavior, and, if you look at the Bible in its totality, it's very simple. You basically love God and love your neighbor as yourself, and that's what it's all about. ... Look, if Sodom and Gomorrah were on the record of happening [ as an historical fact ] , San Francisco would be salt right now, OK." ... Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor.
"Gays are the best neighbors. They're good-looking and fit. They fix up their houses, and even though they don't need a good school system, they are the first to get involved." ... Asbury Park, N.J., real-estate broker Jim McGlynn to The New York Times, Sept. 6. Gays are flocking to Asbury Park buying up cheap, run-down Victorian homes, the Times said.
"There are certain women that drag queens love to do...they love Streisand; they love Diana Ross...before she got fat. Carol Channing is a little bit over now. There's always Bette Midler; Cher...forever. I love being a part of that pack." ... Joan Rivers to Palm Springs' The Bottom Line.
