'I will not be rendering judgment about individual orientation. I do believe the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is good policy.' — President George W. Bush when FOX News Channel correspondent Bret Baier asked at an April 3 press conference: 'Since General Pace made his comments that got a lot of attention about homosexuality, we haven't heard from you on that issue. Do you, sir, believe that homosexuality is immoral?'
'Well, I think traditionally these have been issues that have been managed or regulated by the states, and that's the way I think it ought to be. I think each state ought to have the capacity to decide how they want to handle those issues. Obviously we love our daughters, both of them, Liz and Mary, very much. I'm delighted I'm about to be a grandparent for the sixth time. I'm looking forward to the arrival of a new grandson. And I obviously think it's important for us as a society to be tolerant and respectful of whatever arrangements people enter into.' — U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney when asked by ABC Radio News April 4: 'You are about to have a grandchild born next month ... into a [ lesbian ] family that won't necessarily have the same legal standing in every state. [ S ] hould there be changes, legal changes in some of the laws around the country to better provide for a family?'
'I think there are four kinds of gays in Hollywood. There's the openly gay; the gay and everybody knows it but nobody talks about it; the married, closeted gay who doesn't talk about it; and the screaming 'I'll sue you if you say I'm gay' person. In other words, the no closet, the glass closet, the cast iron closet, and the closet you get buried in.' — Howard Bragman, CEO of the PR firm Fifteen Minutes, to Out magazine, May issue.
'Anderson Cooper has finessed it where straight women who have a crush on him think he's straight and gay men actually think he's out.' — Writer and outing inventor Michelangelo Signorile to Out magazine, May issue.
'We need all the Anderson Coopers to come out. Besides, he's real cute, and I hear he wants a boyfriend very bad. And he can't get one being in the closet.' — Writer and activist Larry Kramer to New York's Daily News, April 6.
'I don't out anyone, people out themselves, it's a choice. I report on the private lives of public figures who make a choice to live their lives in the public eye. I don't believe in discrimination so I'm going to treat everyone the same, gay or straight, out or not.' — Blogger Perez Hilton to London's Pink Paper, March 22.
'These blogs where people say that a celebrity is gay actually took the sting out of saying a celebrity is gay. When I outed people ( and I was one of the very few doing so ) , they called it a smear campaign. No one does that now.' — Village Voice columnist Michael Musto to Windy City Times, March 21.
'I was around when the very first wave of AIDS hit us; it was like a tsunami, and the government wasn't even addressing it. Gay men and women came together to kick ass like I'd never seen. That was an exciting time.' — Village Voice columnist Michael Musto to Windy City Times, March 21.
'Many awards were given to the mainstream media for their positive coverage of the GLBT community. They respond well to awards. Just as GLAAD has reached out to the huge Hispanic viewing media, I hope soon they will reach out to the gay media which is more a part of the mainstream than ever before.' — Comedian Kate Clinton reporting from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Media Awards in New York City, in a March 28 column at The Huffington Post. GLAAD prohibits gay media from submitting entries for the awards, arguing that the organization's mission is to improve the 'mainstream' media.
'They [ gay newspapers ] are becoming more like mainstream media and, in that sense, they are less necessary. They have cheapened themselves out of a role to a large extent. What they ought to be doing is investing resources in producing quality writing, investigative reporting, long features—real writing that isn't otherwise available.' — Larry Gross, director of the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication, commenting on the gay press' use of mainstream wire copy from the Associated Press, to the San Diego Union-Tribune, April 5.
'Yes, I do [ think I'd be open to having a woman as a lover ] . I don't know how you describe me then. I think there are some things I could say that are not politically correct, but I have to say that it definitely would be a possibility, depending on the person.' — Actress Cybill Shepherd to the D.C. gay magazine Metro Weekly, March 22.
'I marched on Washington in a major gay and lesbian march. The Human Rights Campaign sponsored me, and when I got there I said, 'I want to be in that first row and carry the banner,' and they said, 'I'm sorry, unless you're gay or lesbian, we're not going to let you carry it. Because the people who've worked so hard, they deserve to carry it.' I took issue with that. I said, 'I don't know why you'd have to be gay and lesbian to lead the march and carry the banner. It is an equal investment for anyone, regardless of what their orientation is or whatever you want to call it.' I said, 'Would Martin Luther King not have let me march with him because my skin was white? I don't see any difference in the issue.' It's about bigotry and hatred.' — Actress Cybill Shepherd to the D.C. gay magazine Metro Weekly, March 22. Organizers relented and let her help hold the lead banner.
' [ Sara Switzer is ] no nonsense, tough as nails—a real ball-buster chick. It's really good because she doesn't go to those weepy places and she doesn't like it and I really think that has been the key to the success of our relationship.' — Comedian and actress Sandra Bernhard to the Palm Springs gay magazine The Bottom Line, March 30.
'America is my second home. I slept with half of it and came out HIV negative. I'm a lucky, lucky person.' — From a list of Elton John's 60 'most memorable quotes' published March 24 by the British newspaper The Sun to celebrate Elton's 60th birthday.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
