'It broke my heart. I live my life by the value system that you treat others the way you want to be treated. I let love be my guide. I absolutely hate no one.' — Former American Idol contestant Mandisa, referring to speculation that she endorses the ex-gay movement, as quoted in an April 7 Associated Press article. Still, she refused to participate in an event to support the gay community, saying 'Based on what I believe, I'm not an advocate for [ being gay ] , so it's nothing I would take part in.'
'I think probably Barbra and maybe even Cher and myself in school felt like outcasts because we didn't have standard looks. Maybe what a gay icon is, is a person who is rooted for—in other words, cheered on—by people who feel different.' — Liza Minnelli, when asked who was the bigger gay icon, Barbra Streisand, Cher, or herself, in the April 10 issue of Newsweek magazine.
'Honey, I was 17 when I met him. I didn't find out until two weeks after we married. But I was the last one to see him before he died because we stayed friends, and that was tough.' — Minnelli, when asked if she didn't know her first husband Peter Allen was gay, in the April 10 issue of Newsweek magazine.
'For gays and lesbians, today's Poland is like 1930s Germany. We are ruled by a fascist party, which uses the same language and ideas as Hitler.' — Polish gay activist Szymon Niemiec to Britain's The Observer, March 12.
'If an Israeli group wants to march in New York, do you allow Neo-Nazis into their parade? If African-Americans are marching in Harlem, do they have to let the Ku Klux Klan into their parade? People have rights. If we let the ILGO [ Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization ] in, is it the Irish Prostitute Association next?' — John Dunleavy, chairman of New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade, to the Irish Times, March 16.
'Gay pubs and clubs have become so over-run with straight revellers, attracted by the ambience of the gay scene, that they have been forced to introduce strict quotas of heterosexual partygoers. Many clubs are now operating a 'gay majority' door policy to ensure that such places as Canal Street in Manchester and Old Compton Street in Soho remain as gay areas. But these strategies have become so severe that genuine gay people are also being turned away if they do not manage to convince the bouncer of their sexuality.' — From an article in London's The Independent, March 19.
'My theological conviction is that there is a good case for recognition of same-sex partnerships if they are stable and faithful. I would not, however, call it marriage. If physical sex is not always tied to procreation, then same-sex relationships might be legitimate in God's eyes.' — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the U.S. Episcopal Church, to Britain's The Guardian, March 21.
'Cultural right-wingers worry about [ HBO's ] 'Big Love,' too. The existence of a mainstream TV show about polygamy seems to confirm their hellish vision of America becoming a kind of year-'round Mardi Gras in the French Quarter, complete with what may be their most dreaded fear: married homosexuals cavorting in public.' — St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Eric Mink, March 22.
'I can look out my office window at him in his office window, and we can make light signals to each other. He's close enough to know when I am home.' — Actress Suzanne Somers, who has a home in Palm Springs, talking about neighbor Barry Manilow, to the Palm Springs gay magazine The Bottom Line, March 17.
'Gay men love me. And why not? I get what that experience is. I think children of alcoholics are wounded birds, and I think the gay experience is very wounding. I have always had great relationships with my gay friends, and I think that's because we're simpático. We get one another. I know the wounding; I know how to find my way through. So do they.' — Suzanne Somers to the Palm Springs gay magazine The Bottom Line, March 17.
'I don't know what it is, but lesbians don't make passes at me. Maybe I'm too femme?' — Suzanne Somers to the Palm Springs gay magazine The Bottom Line, March 17.
