I think it's [ same-sex marriage ] a great deal of self-indulgent crap.—Veteran Australian gay activist Dennis Altman ( Photo by Rex Wockner ) .
'Years ago, the highlights of the [ gay-pride ] parade were the outrageous parade floats, featuring drag queens and go-go boys, sponsored by gay bars. Now those delightfully pointless displays are outnumbered by contingents of waving employees from banks and utility companies in matching T-shirts. It's a positive development that so many people are out at work, to be sure, but the parade has become a lot less fun for gay and straight spectators alike.' — Robert David Sullivan writing in the Boston Globe, Dec. 2.
'I think it's [ same-sex marriage ] a great deal of self-indulgent crap. I mean, people around the world are being tortured for being homosexual, and people here carry on as if not being allowed to marry was a huge abuse of civil rights. I wish there was a bit more internationalism in the Australian gay world. I mean, it's not too much to ask that we remember, sometimes, we are not the most persecuted and oppressed group in the world.' — Veteran Australian gay activist Dennis Altman to the Sydney Star Observer, Dec. 6.
' [ T ] he only real difference between radical Islam and Christianity's own bloody, murderous past is, well, a bit of time, with a splash of geography. Ah yes, the bloody crusades, the sadistic assaults on conflicting belief systems, the gay popes and murderous priests and boundless hypocrisy, the book burnings and witch burnings and pagan slaughters and a billion sexual oppressions, the mountains of guilt and shame and sin sin sin. Been there, done that, still doing a great deal of it but not quite as, you know, explicitly as before. Note to righteous Christians: That violent Sudanese march [ against the teddy bear named Muhammad ] ? Different branch, same family tree.' — San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford, Dec. 5.
'I have little sympathy for people who whine about Bush. You know those watches that say 'Only so many days until Bush leaves office'? Oh, gee, that's real effective. Why don't you cause a riot? Why don't you shut down a university? Stop whining! All people do is whine! He won! Do something!' — Gay filmmaker John Waters to the Montreal weekly newspaper Hour, Dec. 13.
'I think a good deal of it [ my huge gay following ] has to do with the heartache and pain and misery that this community had to suffer so long. I think things have changed a great deal since the 26 years that I have been with this community, but I think that prior to that, the reason they fell in love with me was because I was a misfit, meaning that I was a big figure, a big woman, maybe not as attractive, and you have this big, painful voice and it's a thing like being connected with Judy Garland or other people who had that sadness that they could kind of latch on to. So I think that's how it started with 'And I'm Telling You' being such a song of rejection and need and pleading to be recognized. ... I'm glad though that when I lost the weight and I did change and my life got happier ... they followed, you know, because the gay community's life has also gotten better as well, and I think we've all grown together and evolved and are finally coming to fulfill our own destiny.' — Singer Jennifer Holliday of Dreamgirls fame to the Palm Springs gay magazine The BottomLine, Nov. 9.
'Oh, my God, before I played this character, I never realized how important gay rights issues are; I never paid much attention. And then when I started playing this character, it was a personal affront to me. It seems outrageous that the things I and many others take for granted, gay people cannot. I think the marriage issue that gays face is outrageous as well.' — The L Word star Jennifer Beals to QVegas magazine, November issue.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley