'My sister was gay, my best friends were gay, so I figured I had to be gay. So I did everything they did. I tried kissing girls. But it didn't feel right for me and eventually I was forced to come out as a heterosexual.' — Singer Cyndi Lauper ( pictured ) to The Times of London, Aug. 2.
'Since marriage equality was won, some of our organizations, ( top lobby group ) Egale Canada, for example, seem to be making trans issues a very high priority. Now, perhaps that is where the majority of us want to go next. But maybe not. Maybe we want to put school safety and the creation of gay-positive curriculum at the top of our agenda. Or a bill to reform Canada Customs. Or legalizing prostitution and adult performances. Or the right to donate blood and organs. Or legalizing threesomes. Or increased funding for AIDS prevention. How about getting rid of the Stephen Harper government. ... I don't personally think it ( trans rights ) should be at the top of the list.' — Gareth Kirkby, managing editor of the Ottawa, Ontario, gay newspaper Capital XTRA!, writing in the Aug. 7 issue.
'If America becomes a place where our children are taken from us by law and forced to attend schools where they are taught that cohabitation is as good as marriage, that motherhood doesn't require a husband or father, and that homosexuality is as valid a choice as heterosexuality for their future lives, then why in the world should married people continue to accept the authority of such a government? What these dictator-judges do not seem to understand is that their authority extends only as far as people choose to obey them. How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government.' — Science fiction writer Orson Scott Card writing in the Mormon Times, July 24.
'When I'm elected mayor, I would die before allowing the pride parade to be held in Jerusalem. They want to be proud? They're allowed to. They want to demonstrate? Fine. But the streets of Jerusalem are a symbol, and parading on them would be an aggressive act against our tradition, against our values and against our morale. I would lie on the ground in order to block the march and would even die before I approve the pride parade in the city.' — Jerusalem mayoral candidate Arcadi Gaydamak at an Aug. 25 press conference.
'Neither Jennifer nor I are admitting to being the wife.' — Lesbian San Diego City Councilwoman Toni Atkins confirming that she and partner Jennifer LeSar will marry in September, to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15.
' ( Sarah ) Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with ( Hillary ) Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for—and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'' — Author and feminist activist Gloria Steinem writing in the Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4.
'I felt like I was in Hollywood at a very special time when all of us gay people kind of found each other, and we were like: 'You go. No, you go out. No, you come out!' And we all kind of just jumped in, one after the other. Basically, we just keep ascending, we keep moving up.' — Singer Melissa Etheridge to the Oregon gay newspaper Just Out, Aug. 15.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
