'Somebody ... noticed that the epigraph at the beginning of the book, 'People like you and me ... we're gonna be 50-year-old libertines in a world full of 20-year-old Calvinists,' is credited to Michael when it was actually Brian who said that to Michael in 1976, so now I have to apologize profusely. Several fans have noticed this on my Web site, but it bugs me more than anyone. I'm such a perfectionist with that kind of stuff but I do trip on my own lore and I probably should have read my own books all over again before writing this [ new ] one.' — Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin to Philadelphia Gay News, June 29. Maupin's seventh Tales book is called Michael Tolliver Lives.
'Don't know about this blogging business—especially on the road. Book tours have a crushing sameness to them. All I want to do after a signing/reading is flop in my room with midnight room service and hotel porn. ( Mercifully they have gay porn now. In the old days you had to make do with dickless straight porn. ) ' — Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin on his blog, June 21.
'There's almost a psychosis in someone like [ the late Rev. Jerry ] Falwell who obviously knew he had gay friends and gay associates and then turned around and blamed gay people among others for 9/11 on national television. I mean, who can make this stuff up, it's so batty.' — New York Times columnist Frank Rich to Gay City News, July 5.
' [ Mitt ] Romney has a record in Massachusetts where he ran to the left of Ted Kennedy on gay issues and Giuliani lived with a couple of gay guys when Donna Hanover threw him out of Gracie Mansion. When you see them trying to fudge it, particularly Romney more so than Giuliani—who tried to fudge it but realized there was just too much on the record for him to do it, particularly on abortion—it just seems like pandering to what is increasingly a fringe. I challenge the Karl Rove wisdom that this is the key to winning the nomination, let alone the presidency.' — New York Times columnist Frank Rich to Gay City News, July 5.
'My mother didn't have a good grounding. When you're a kid, and you're making that much money, and supporting all these other people, there's imbalance in your family and there's no one to say, 'No!' The people around her liked their lifestyles, and they liked their cars.' — Lorna Luft, Judy Garland's daughter, to London's Gay Times, July issue.
'The crowd cheered when we marched out [ to sing the national anthem ] . Rainbow flags were visible waving in every section. There was no audible booing or hissing, to our shock and surprise. It was a breeze. [ T ] he Christian wackos from El Cajon were so few in number and so pathetic on TV, using worn out sound-bite platitudes like 'lifestyle' and 'protect our children,' to the yawns and boredom of all present.' — Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego member Fergal O'Doherty after the chorus sang The Star-Spangled Banner at the July 8 San Diego Padres game at Petco Park. Christians from the blue-collar suburb of El Cajon had raised a stink before game day, denouncing the Padres for welcoming the chorus and a group of 1,000 gay baseball fans to the same game at which it was promoting a giveaway of 'floppy hats' to children. About 75 Christians picketed the ballpark before the game started.
'I've always been very grateful to the gay community; they're the ones who always kept my mother's name in the public [ eye ] . I'm proud that my mom's funeral was the breaking point for the gay community to stand up and stop being harassed. I grew up in a house where prejudice wasn't an option. My mom would have been really proud that people stood up at Stonewall and said, 'We won't take it any more.'' — Lorna Luft, Judy Garland's daughter, to London's Gay Times, July issue.
'The wave of American TV shows that supposedly signaled a new era of tolerance toward us—Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy—no doubt resulted in a backlash of homophobia among average Americans. It certainly must have alienated a whole new generation of homosexual kids, who wanted in no way to be associated with such insulting drivel.' — Columnist Bruce LaBruce in London's Gay Times, July issue.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
