'Some people said, 'It's brave of you to play a gay man.' And I think that's very dated. Don't you?' — Actor Hugh Jackman on playing gay songsmith Peter Allen in the Broadway musical The Boy From Oz, to The Advocate, Sept. 16.
'What I want to do is make Americans aware that they're fucked-up when they equate everything a person does with some sexual trip. You know, if you hold a pencil in your hand, it's a phallic symbol and you really want to hold a cock in your hand. And a football coach doesn't really want to be a coach, he likes to slap football players' asses. ... He's a latent homosexual. And it goes on and on and on, all the fucking time.' — Arnold Schwarzenegger to Britain's Time Out magazine in 1977, as reported by Time magazine, Sept. 8.
'Nixon was always being attacked sexually. It was always said that he was a fag and that he had no sexual relations with his wife for 15 years and that was why he liked power. And Hitler had only one ball, and that was why he wanted to conquer the world.' — Arnold Schwarzenegger to Britain's Time Out magazine in 1977, as reported by Time magazine, Sept. 8.
'When we were all done, [the producers] said, 'We didn't expect you guys to be so upset.' I said: 'What did you expect? Did you expect these really nice people to go on a show together and be told this horrible, horrible lie and just think, oh, that's fun?' I said: 'We gave you our trust once, and you destroyed it. We're going to give it back to you and hope you make a really good show.' And I think they did a good job editing the show and getting a lot of different perspectives, and I do think it did raise awareness. It does suck being the—I don't know what the word is, not the victim, necessarily.' — James Getzlaff, star of Bravo's Boy Meets Boy, on the fact that seven of the 15 men from among whom he was trying to choose a boyfriend were secretly straight, to PlanetOut.com, Sept. 15.
'Now that everything is over with, we're trying to see how it all works out. We have so much more time. The [prize] vacation ... isn't [until March] so we have plenty of time to just let it all settle in and sink in. We'll just take it slowly. Wes lives in San Diego and I live [in Los Angeles]. We don't see each other a lot. We talk on the phone. We e-mail. We do see each other when we can. We're trying.' — Boy Meets Boy star James Getzlaff to PlanetOut.com, Sept. 15. Getzlaff selected Wes Culwell from among 15 potential suitors, seven of whom were secretly straight.
'At the lookout point, a group of 13-year-old girls thought we were a boy band and they were pounding on the window of the limousine wanting our autographs. We're like: 'We're in a gay show. Get out of here.' Then, the carriage ride around Palm Springs, we got pulled over by the police. There's an open-container law and we were drinking champagne. They were writing citations. We were like: 'Producers! Help!' The limousine crashed into the fountain in front of the leading man's house—broke the fountain, cracked the transmission. ... And then the fire [which you saw on TV]. It was one of those nights.' — Boy Meets Boy winner Wes Culwell on footage you didn't see of his and James' final date, in a Sept. 12 interview with this column.
'One of the biggest things they cut out that would have given away that I was a gay guy was at the karaoke. When I walked in and saw Coco Peru, I almost died. I love Coco Peru. I walked in and my jaw just went clunk. I mean, I never get starstruck, but it's Coco Peru! My jaw just dropped and I just went [he screeches]. It was the gayest moment of my life.' — Culwell.
'When we left the set [on May 18], contractually, you cannot see each other, because it ruins the end of the show. You can go out in groups, you can make phone calls and do e-mails, but you can't spend one-on-one time together. ... Now that the show's over, we're picking up where we left off. There's potential there, definitely. Absolutely. But where you saw us walking off hand-in-hand, that's where we're picking up now.' — Culwell.
'Congress long ago limited the ability of gay and lesbian couples to be full participants in American society, but the proposed constitutional amendment makes previous measures look tame. The proposed constitutional amendment would be the legal equivalent of a nuclear bomb. It would wipe out every single law protecting gay and lesbian families and other unmarried couples.' — ACLU Legislative Counsel Christopher Anders, Sept. 4.
'They probably found out I was the only top in the group.' — Queer Eye litigant and fired Culture Vulture Blair Boone, speculating on The Howard Stern Show as to why Scout Productions, the creators of Queer Eye, had fired him and replaced him with Jai Rodriguez after he had filmed two episodes. Boone filed his lawsuit before the first episode even aired—and he is only asking for one year's compensation.
'I'm a giver by nature. I don't see myself taking it.' — Boone to Stern on being a top.
'I'm BEHIND you!' — Stern.
'I'M FULLY aware of the absurdity of all this.' — Chicago-based reporter Ted Allen, the cooking and beverage expert on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, to Crain's Chicago Business Sept. 22. They had a cover story on Allen's potential to get millions in endorsement and speaking fees as a result of the show—despite the low pay in his contract.
'I DON'T SEE him very much lately, and everywhere we do go together, people are always stopping us to talk or ask questions. ... I mean, he's taken to wearing baseball caps and sunglasses. ... He looks like a straight guy.' — Ted Allen's partner of 10 years, Columbia College journalism professor Barry Rice, to Crain's.
'PEOPLE ARE shivering when they meet us. And it's not just gay guys on Halsted Street. It's women that look like somebody's mom and college guys in the airport who say 'Dude'.' — Ted Allen to Crain's.
'It scares Middle America. So we have to be careful. And I think to do it with the right person—somebody they already know, an actor they're already comfortable with—might help. This is maybe one that makes them comfortable.' — Eric McCormack, on the potential chemistry with upcoming guest star Dylan McDermott (The Practice).
'Plenty of noble words about the need to fight AIDS gushed from the United Nations podium this week. We must 'shatter the silence that kills,' said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. French President Jacques Chirac agreed, adding that the world must 'unite in a struggle on behalf of life.' Listeners could be forgiven if they plugged their ears and trained an eagle eye instead on the only thing that matters for the thousands who die from the scourge every day: the money. ... As Bono, the AIDS activist and lead singer for the rock band U2, noted before meeting with President Bush last week, 'The AIDS emergency is just that. It's not a cause. We're not here peddling a cause. We're not looking to get into America's wallet for another cause [This] is an emergency.'' — Los Angeles Times editorial Sept. 24.
'As in [Bush's] conflict with the U.N. over Iraq, Bush seeks to keep a grip on funding and refuses to cooperate with other nations. He insists that new funding go to 14 nations of his choice. Bush's newly appointed AIDS ambassador, former Eli Lilly head Randy Tobias, says the new money should help countries that meet administration economic, social and political ideals. But is it fair to give short shrift to people who, through no fault of their own, live in countries that fall short of Bush ideals? It's no time to reinvent the wheel when 40 million people live with HIV, about 29 million of them in Africa. The U.S. should donate at least $1 billion directly to the U.N. fund.' — The LA Times.
