Pictured Heath Ledger in the now-famous shirt.
'It deals with intimacy, which is far more shocking than sex.' — Singer Boy George on Brokeback Mountain to England's Evening Standard, Feb. 20.
'Never before has a gay-themed film been as written about, reviewed, lauded, awarded, discussed, dissected, parodied, and hyped as Brokeback Mountain, so it's easy to forget amid this din that the film is deeply moving millions nationwide one theater and one screen at a time, communities sitting together in the dark and emotionally connecting with this story.' — Journalist Adam B. Vary writing in The Advocate, Feb. 28.
'If you have a cute young kid that was thinking, 'I wonder if I'm gay or not' and they see that movie [ Brokeback Mountain ] and try it: good.' — Filmmaker John Waters to Denver's exp Magazine, Feb. 3.
'When I think about seeing gay-themed films in public theaters ... I always return to Making Love, one of the first mainstream films to deal with gay subject matter. It got to Morgantown in 1982, when I was in graduate school at WVU. How delighted my queer friends and I were finally to see gay life depicted in film. That exuberance was short-lived. When the male leads got intimate, the primarily straight audience exploded with disgust: 'Oh, God! Sick! I'm gonna puke.' ... It was that audience reaction all those years ago that I could not stop thinking about as I waited, with equal measures of enthusiastic anticipation and cold dread, for Brokeback Mountain to get to Southwest Virginia, where I teach, or Charleston, where my partner John lives. And it was my own violent reaction to a jeering audience that I feared the most. [ But Jack and Ennis ] made love in their high-mountain tent. They kissed violently after four years apart. They sprawled naked in a motel bed, delighting in their reunion. And that Charleston audience was absolutely silent.' — Jeff Mann writing in the Sunday Gazette-Mail in Charleston, W.Va.,Feb. 19.
'They really are the ruby slippers of our time. [ I'll keep them ] as they were, on the hanger, entwined. I would never wear them, put them on, or separate them. ... There is no buyer's remorse. [ It's ] the most fun thing I ever bought.' — Tom Gregory to the Associated Press Feb. 22 after he paid $101,100.51 on eBay for the shirts worn by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain. The film's distributor donated the items to benefit the Southern California children's charity Variety.
'Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly ( Fond of Each Other ) ' — A song released by country singer Willie Nelson on Valentine's Day.
'I do think that we as a state ought to honor commitments, and we ought to reflect that in policies that we have. I personally don't think that it is fair ... for Britney Spears, who was married for 51 hours to some guy in Las Vegas, [ for ] that guy [ to have ] more rights than someone who's been committed to another person for 25 years.' — Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack expressing his support for the idea of same-sex civil unions, as quoted by the Des Moines Register, Feb. 15.
'In the [ American Family Association's ] first very extensive e-mail attacking our show [ The Book of Daniel ] , they named me, Jack Kenny, the show's creator, as a 'practicing homosexual.' They played on that fact and the fact that there was a gay character in the show to say that I had no business writing about Jesus or Christianity. ... Where was my community when I was being gay-bashed, quite openly in a very public forum? Where were the protests? Where were the articles in the gay press? ... It's too late for me or The Book of Daniel [ but the ] next time you hear someone being bashed, don't sit there and take it.' — Jack Kenny, creator of the shortlived TV show The Book of Daniel, writing at Advocate.com, Feb. 14.
'It's such a polarizing issue because it plays on people's most uninformed fears and how it relates to their religious beliefs. I hate to call them brilliant, but [ Karl ] Rove's strategy or whoever is responsible was incredible. Besides, I don't think President Bush cares two minutes about gay marriage either way.' — Lily Tomlin to the Dallas Voice, Feb. 10.
'Gay unions, what is that all about? I haven't been invited to any ceremonies and I wouldn't go anyway. The idea that gay people have to mimic what obviously doesn't work for straight people anymore, I think is a bit tragic.' — Singer Boy George to England's Evening Standard, Feb. 20.
' [ A ] t around 4 p.m., we noticed that PinkNews.co.uk was being rather slow and we were unable to log into our administration console to add new articles. Ten minutes later, the screens went dead, the site disappeared from the Net and my mobile telephone rang. 'You've been drudged!" said the ... voice on the other end of the line.' — PinkNews.co.uk editor Benjamin Cohen Feb. 23 after the popular Web site drudgereport.com linked to an article on the gay site.
'I revealed he was a sociopath first, then I revealed he was gay. [ Andrew Van De Kamp ] is perhaps the most empowered gay teen in the history of television. He's gay and he doesn't care.' — Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry speaking at a Writers Guild of America panel in Hollywood Feb. 21, as quoted by the Los Angeles Daily News.
'I'm not out, so when they asked me [ to be on the panel ] , my first response was, how did you get my name? My friends said, 'This is the year to be gay with Brokeback Mountain and all. If you were ever going to do it, now is the time.' The secret is out. If you invite me back next year, I'll be able to tell you if I was discriminated against.' — Battlestar Galactica writer Toni Graphia speaking at a Writers Guild of America panel in Hollywood Feb. 21, as quoted by the Los Angeles Daily News.