Keener._______
'A huge number of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. You have a people that don't know anything about the rest of the world, and you have leaders who lie to them, lie to them, and lie to them. It's so stupid, everything that they say. And the media take on it is just as stupid as theirs, sometimes worse. They at least have motives. They are making money out of the republic or what's left of it. It's the stupidity that will really drive me away from this country.' — Gay writer Gore Vidal to The Progressive, August issue.
'I can understand the frustration of older lesbians who worked long and hard for safe spaces, only to be told to share with those they might see as pretend or pseudo-women. But transwomen face so much discrimination; that we dykes should provide more is ironic, wrong, and gives me hives. I suspect another part of the problem is the yuck factor, the discomfort around those who play fast and loose with their anatomy. Well, remember that we're in the process of demanding the larger world get over its yuck factor where gays are concerned.' — Syndicated gay-press columnist Leslie Robinson on the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival's policy of admitting only 'womyn-born womyn,' in an early September filing.
'The whole red carpet thing is your worst nightmare. It's like every time in junior high where you wondered whether anyone would notice you while the really popular kids are getting all the attention. A publicist was introducing me, but then Kate Burton, who was nominated for her excellent work on Grey's Anatomy, showed up, and they literally shoved me out of the way to talk to her. It's horrendous. If I ever win again, I'm gonna do like Brando and send in an Indian woman to make an announcement: 'Mr. Jordan will not accept until we legalize gay marriage!'' — Leslie Jordan, who won an Emmy for playing Beverly Leslie on Will & Grace, to the gay newspaper Dallas Voice, Aug. 25.
'We benders sniff out authentic masculinity like maniacal sexed-up truffle pigs. And trades such as building, plumbing, and plastering, which involve working with your hands and actually getting your clothes dirty ( gasp ) represent ... the least constructed, least contrived of all male images. Other beacons of fetishised masculinity—policemen, firemen, soldiers, sportsmen and City gents—are inherently less masculine, as their appearances take more effort. So, add in the behaviour often ( unfairly ) associated with tradesmen—builders in particular, namely wolfwhistling, bum cleavage-flashing, fry-up-eating, Sun-reading ( and in more recent times, spliff-smoking ) , and you have the most diametrically opposed image to the stereotypical gay as is possible. And that, dear droolers and class tourists, is the fascination.' — From an unbylined front-page article on the Web site of the British gay glossy Attitude, Aug. 30.
'You have that itch, and it feels good to scratch it. There is still a place to go for it. You should see this place at 6 [ p.m. ] before all of the guys go home to their wives.' — Construction worker Peter, 57, speaking to the Reuters news service at the New York City gay bathhouse East Side Club, Sept. 11. He didn't provide his last name.
'I have heard that [ Wheel of Fortune creator Merv Griffin might be gay ] . But I care very little whether he is or not. I guess the question is, 'Are you only gay if you live the gay lifestyle?' I may or may not be heterosexual. I've never made that announcement, and I don't expect to.' — Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak to the gay newspaper Dallas Voice, Sept. 1.
'We undressed and he kissed me. It was the first time in my life that a kiss meant what it was supposed to mean—it sent me through the roof. I was like a man emerging from 44 years in a cave to taste pure air for the first time, feel direct sunlight on pallid skin, warmth where there had only ever been a bone-chilling numbness. I pulled him to the bed and we made love like I'd always dreamed: a boastful, passionate, whispering, masculine kind of love.' — Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey in his new book The Confession, recalling the December 2001 beginning of his alleged affair with Golan Cipel, whom McGreevey later put in charge of New Jersey's counterterrorism efforts despite Cipel's lacking the necessary experience. Cipel says he's not gay and never had sex with McGreevey, but was sexually harassed by him.
'Twice Golan [ Cipel ] and I had managed to spend whole nights together, once in Philadelphia, when we'd gone for an Army-Navy game and a Jewish event; and another time for a meeting at the American Israeli Political Action Committee in Washington, D.C., where we had the nerve to tell the state troopers we would share a double-occupancy room to save taxpayers' money. We grew so concerned about the troopers listening in that we made love on the floor, fearing a squeak from the beds.' — Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey in his new book The Confession. Cipel, whom McGreevey put in charge of New Jersey's counterterrorism efforts despite Cipel's lacking the necessary experience, says he's not gay and never had sex with McGreevey, but was sexually harassed by him.
'I wasn't his lover. I didn't have sex with him. I never heard anything from him saying that he loved me. The only things that happened were sexual harassments. And unwanted sexual advances and assaults. ... He turned and pushed me with a lot of strength to the bedroom, and I was in shock. He put his hands to my chest and pushed me into the bedroom. He pushed me onto the bed and jumped on me. We wrestled and he stopped. And ... I asked him, 'Why did you think I was gay?' And he said, 'Everybody's a little bit gay.' I was very embarrassed. ... I just hurried out, out of the house.' — Golan Cipel's version of a very different story ( see above ) told by former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey in his new tell-all book, The Confession, to New York's Daily News, Sept. 17.
'Where are we going to live?' — The first words spoken by former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey's wife, Dina Matos, after he came out to her, according to McGreevey's just-released book The Confession.
Assistance: Bill Kelley