'I'm the only one that goes [ to gay pride nowadays ] . No one thinks it's a cool place to be spotted at anymore.' — Village Voice columnist Michael Musto in an interview with syndicated Canadian gay columnist Richard Burnett, Jan. 18.
'Last year, Moscow came under unprecedented pressure to sanction the gay parade, which can be described in no other way than as satanic. We did not let the parade take place then, and we are not going to allow it in the future. ... Some European nations bless single-sex marriages and introduce sexual guides in schools. Such things are a deadly moral poison for children.' — Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Jan. 29. Because of last year's ban, the city's first gay-pride march was downsized to an attempt to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, then walk a few blocks for a rally across from City Hall. The participants were violently attacked by neofascists, skinheads, Christians and riot police.
'I respect—and will respect—freedom of people in all their manifestations [ but I will not be drawn into ] statements made by leaders of the regions. My attitude to sexual minorities is simple. It is connected with my fulfilling of my official obligations. One of the main problems of the country is demographic.' — Russian President Vladimir Putin when asked Feb. 1 if he agrees with Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov that gay pride parades are 'satanic.' Putin's use of 'demographic' refers to Russia's population loss due to a declining birth rate.
'When Heather and I decided to have a baby, I knew it wasn't going to be the most popular decision. This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate, on either side of a political issue. It is my child. ... Every piece of remotely responsible research that has been done in the last 20 years has shown there is no difference between children raised by same-sex parents and children raised by opposite-sex parents; what matters is being raised in a stable, loving environment.'—Mary Cheney, daughter of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking Jan. 31 at Barnard College in Manhattan, according to The New York Times.
'I don't have children, don't plan to have children and don't particularly want children. If I were to adopt children, my main criterion would be that they be old enough to operate the vacuum and do some light dusting.' — Columnist John Corvino writing in the Michigan gay newspaper Between The Lines, Jan. 25.
'For some reason, the military seems more afraid of gay people than they are [ of ] terrorists, but they're very brave with the terrorists. ... If the terrorists ever got a hold of this information, they'd get a platoon of lesbians to chase us out of Baghdad.' — U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Feb. 7.
'It was a big nightmare. My family didn't even know. It was terrifying.' — Actor Chad Allen, who starred on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, on being outed by The Globe in 1996, to USA Today, Jan. 30.
'I personally feel like it is the responsibility of every gay man and woman to come out at some point in their life. When you stay in the closet, you perpetuate a culture of shame. It's about personal courage and integrity.' — Openly gay Brothers & Sisters Executive Producer Jon Robin Baitz to USA Today, Jan. 30.
'I decided when I was younger that I was never going to come out. I was planning to get married and have kids, be closeted about it and force myself to be something I knew I wasn't. ... I was always the jock. I always got the girls. I was always put in that real 'masculine' limelight. But don't get me wrong—I do have my feminine moments. You can tell I'm gay. My friends say I'm getting gayer and gayer by the minute!' — J.P. Calderon, who was on last season's Survivor, to Instinct magazine, February issue.
'If I put myself in the most extreme way of coming out [ such as in a magazine ] , then it forces me to have to deal, because no matter where I go now, everyone is going to know—or not know if they don't care—but at least now nobody's going to be questioning [ my sexuality ] . And I think that's why I did it. It forces me to start living my life.' — J.P. Calderon, who was on last season's Survivor, to Instinct magazine, February issue.
'We're all very caught up in measuring and comparing and creating authority figures and it's all bullshit. You have to be a light for yourself and young gay people should not look to me as a role model. I'm as fucked up and twisted and freaked as they are.' — Actor Rupert Everett to the Chicago gay newspaper Windy City Times, Jan. 24.
'Marriage, to me, is a waste of time whether you're gay or straight. [ Y ] ou can't put down on paper something that's not quantified on paper. The last thing I want to do as a gay man is clone straight society.' — Actor Rupert Everett to the Chicago gay newspaper Windy City Times, Jan. 24.
'I sometimes go out. I travel a lot, so if I pass by one of my favorite places and it's a weekend, I might go out, but the term 'party boy' in the American sense? No, I can't stand it. It's middle-class, it's racist and everything I don't like. The circuit is kind of terrifying to me.' — Gay actor Rupert Everett to the Chicago gay newspaper Windy City Times, Jan. 24.
'I'm not into Abercrombie & Fitch or cherry deodorant and cinnamon-flavored lips. I like the smell of sweat. I don't like fashion on men particularly.' — Everett to the Chicago gay newspaper Windy City Times, Jan. 24.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
