'I'm such a big ol' bull dyke, it would have been impossible for me to hide it. I mean, when I was doing stand-up, was I going to go out onstage and talk about my boyfriend? Everyone would go, 'Hey big dyke—why are you talking about your boyfriend?' So being out was basically being who I am.' — Comic/singer/actress Lea DeLaria ( pictured ) to the Kansas gay magazine Liberty Press, April issue.
'I have been clear about my interest in including gender identity in legislation, but I've also been honest with the groups that I've met with that it is a heavy lift through Congress. We've got some Democrats who are willing to vote for a non-inclusive bill but we lose them on an inclusive bill, and we just may not be able to generate the votes.' — Barack Obama to Advocate.com, April 10.
'I strongly respect the right of same-sex couples to insist that even if we got complete equality in benefits, it still wouldn't be equal because there's a stigma associated with not having the same word, marriage, assigned to it. I understand that, but my perspective is also shaped by the broader political and historical context in which I'm operating.' — Barack Obama to Advocate.com, April 10.
'We will push on and bring full marriage equality to New York state. And when we have done that, we're going to do more. We're going to protect young people from bullies. We're going to protect against the discrimination of people in the transgender community, and we're going to fight for decent and affordable health care for all citizens in this state. If you will join with me, and if we work hard enough, we can change the face of New York, which will be the catalyst to changing national policy.' — New York Gov. David Patterson addressing the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Leadership Awards dinner April 7 in New York City.
'I would be very strongly outspoken about this and it would be part of American foreign policy. There are a number of gross human-rights abuses that countries engage in with whom we have relations and we have to be really vigilant and outspoken in our total repudiation of those kinds of actions and do everything we can, including using our leverage on matters such as aid, to change the behavior so we can try to prevent such atrocities from happening.' — Hillary Clinton when asked April 3 by Philadelphia Gay News, 'What changes would you make toward governments that execute gay people ...?'
'Why stop there?' — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Log Cabin Republicans National Convention April 11 in San Diego, in response to a gay conventioneer who exclaimed, 'Arnold, I loved all your movies. ... Take your shirt off!'
'I'm totally addicted [ to MySpace ] . I read it completely myself and nobody believes it. Whenever I look at my messages, they're like, 'Hey Tori's assistant, can you help me answer this question or ask Tori this?' And I always have to answer back, 'Hey, it's actually me!'' — Actress Tori Spelling to Philadelphia Gay News, April 11.
'The one thing I always say that I really, really mean is I should have had a gay son. Melissa doesn't care that Ann Miller can tap without shoes. Doesn't care! This breaks my heart. I've put on the Sirius show-tunes channel in the car and Melissa gets upset with me. This is not right!' — Comedian Joan Rivers to Instinct magazine, April issue.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley