'Definitely there's an ick factor. It's a little bit like French-kissing your dad. When you don't have the internal impetus that makes you
gay in the first place, you're kind of flying blind in that area.' — Hal Sparks who plays Michael Novotny on Queer As Folk talking about
all the kissing his character does, in a June 21 interview with this column.
'[Before my role on Queer As Folk] I didn't know gay men had sex facing each other. That was a big surprise. It seems logical
now, but I'd just never thought about it. It looks like it would rack you up. It looks painful.' — Sparks.
'Back in the day, we worked for Divadom or Divaship, whatever you want to call it. Now it's not something that's earned, it's
something that everyone gives a title to. If you can generate some sales, you're a diva. And it doesn't matter if you can really sing or
not.' — Singer Jennifer Holliday, best known for Dreamgirls and, recently, Ally McBeal, to D.C.'s Metro Weekly, June 5.
'I love this man. We're not allowed to get married in this world. ... But I'd like to declare in front of all these people [that] I love you
and I'd like to live with you the rest of my life.' — Marc Shaiman to his lover Scott Wittman as the couple accepted the best-score Tony
Award for Hairspray, June 8.
'I would have been a born-again Christian at a younger age.' — Disco diva Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive) when asked June 9 by
Gay.com, 'If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?'
'At Avis, domestic partners are automatically included as additional drivers. No extra fees charged. No questions asked. That's
been our policy for the past 10 years. So, why have we waited so long to tell you? Well, let's just say we came out in our own time.' —
From a full-page ad by the Avis rental-car company in the July issue of Out magazine.
'Someone showed me an episode of 'Six Feet Under' where the mother is admitting to her gay son that, when she was his age, 'I
had a thing for Jane Fonda.' So I called up my agent and said, talk to the producer and tell him to write a cameo for me to come on as
her lesbian fantasy. That was seven months ago. I haven't heard a thing.' — Jane Fonda to the San Diego Union-Tribune, June 11.
'Being gay and transgendered ... are two very different things, and holding gay rights hostage to social acceptance of
transsexuals and crossdressers is not only politically stupid but morally wrong. ... Gay rights legislation will address many, if not all, of
the trans movement's goals; not the other way around.' — Chris Crain, executive editor of the Washington Blade, New York Blade,
Southern Voice and Houston Voice, in a June 6 editorial.
'The 'progressive justice' faction [of the gay movement] loves to quote Martin Luther King Jr. as saying an injustice toward one is
an injustice toward all, but the good reverend did not demand inclusion of protection for gays in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.' — Chris
Crain.
'The way I see it, any infringement on public sex is an infringement on my right as an American to watch public sex! Besides, isn't
busting people for public sex on Bourbon Street a little like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500 or blaming earned runs on
the Mets pitching staff? Doesn't New Orleans exist as America's safety valve, the place where otherwise straight-laced people can go
to witness things that they'd never see at the mall or on Main Street, to stay out late, to drink too much or maybe even—oh, I don't
know—have public sex with a stranger while other strangers shout encouragement?' — Columnist Gersh Kuntzman on Newsweek's
Web site, June 2.
'Everyone has been so supportive, so positive, so friendly [since I came out]. In New York, people walked up to me in the street,
and in theaters. Strangers gave me the thumbs-up, wished me well, said, 'Good for you.' I am just awestruck by the change in the way
I feel about life now. [S]uddenly, I am free. Out of the prison I built for myself. It's intoxicating. I can talk about it positively because I'm
not afraid anymore.'— Actor Richard Chamberlain (Dr. Kildare, Thorn Birds) to The Los Angeles Times, June 13.
'This issue is not a liability, it is a strength, because people know I'll stand up and do the right thing. ... I am the candidate that is
walking the walk, not just talking the talk [on gay issues]. I am ... out front of the rest of the field [of Democratic candidates.]' —
Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean in a June 18 phone interview with several gay journalists. Dean is referring to
having signed Vermont's groundbreaking civil-union law and to his unprecedented (for a Presidential candidate) gay-friendly
positions.
'We believe our country has been hijacked by the far right. The President putting his arm around Sen. Rick Santorum and saying
how inclusive he was, was despicable.' — Dean. Santorum, a Republican U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, recently likened gay sex
to bigamy, polygamy, adultery and incest, and said gay marriage would be 'the death knell of the American family.'
'I'm in a unique position, as the daughter of a presidential candidate ... to have a voice—to give gay and lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people a voice. I think I'm a good representative to do that.' — Democratic Presidential candidate Dick Gephardt's
lesbian daughter Chrissy, to the San Francisco Chronicle, June 19.
'As a general rule, straight men don't make eye contact with other straight men in gyms, ask them out for beers or ask them out to
dinner—unless they're straight Mormon guys on a mission.' — Columnist Dan Savage at PlanetOut.com, June 20.
'NEW YORK (AP) — It was a night for being out and proud. A ceremony that saw the Tony Award for best play go to a drama about a
gay baseball player also had an on-camera kiss between a longtime male couple and references to same-sex partners.' — Lead
sentence from the Associated Press, the world's largest news operation, June 9.
'I would be nowhere without the gay and lesbian community ... because of Psycho Beach Party! And In and Out, and every single
project I've been in has a gay following which I am so grateful for. And it's always an exciting experience for me to walk around West
Hollywood. I feel like Cher. ... It's funny, people always say, 'Some of my best friends are gay.' ... All of my friends are gay! I'm the only
one. ... I'm married — to a guy. I'm, like, the weirdo.' — Lauren Ambrose, Claire Fisher on Six Feet Under, to Windy City Times, June
4.