'For some Democrats, gay marriage is the political equivalent of doggie doo. James Carville has identified it as one of those 'icky' issues his party should shy away from. But the Republicans won't allow it. ... This wedge issue has been wedged, and the only question is the fundamental one when it comes to human rights: Which side are you on? Usually progressives can be counted on to prod the Democrats, but not this time. Carville's comment has gone virtually unanswered by the left. There's been no crush of Hollywood celebs at fundraisers for this cause. The radical cadres that march against globalization and war haven't agitated for marriage rights. ... From a movement noted for its passion about social justice, this lack of ardor demands to be addressed. Mind you, plenty of progressives, queer and otherwise, have enlisted in this fight. NOW has filed amicus briefs in several marriage cases. The Leadership Council for Civil Rights is circulating a letter among its members opposing the amendment. The NAACP is expected to sign on. But there is dissent in each of these organizations, and the divisions are sufficiently deep that activists have had to present two options: If you can't support same-sex marriage, surely you can see the danger in an amendment banning it.' — Richard Goldstein in the Village Voice Sept. 3.
'Ever since the days of Emma Goldman, marriage has been icky for radicals. Their image of gay culture as a 'site of resistance' is threatened by the thought that these sexual outlaws might hew to the narrow if not the straight. Underlying these concerns is the fundamental reason why many feminists and sex radicals are cool to gay marriage. They worry about the unintended consequences. ... Both feminism and gay liberation have developed a potent critique of matrimony, exposing its relationship to repression and patriarchal privilege. ... I want to argue that the radical critique of gay marriage is shortsighted in several respects. Even when it is correct ... it ignores the human capacity to transform an oppressive institution.' — Goldstein.
'She's an amazing person, really grounded, just very healthy ... I had her tested ... Rorschach and Mensa ... and then I had a lot of my friends meet her, and she passed.' — Ellen DeGeneres joking about her new love, Alexandra Hedison, reported by columnist Liz Smith Sept. 3, about a TV Guide interview by Lisa Bernhard with Ellen, on the even of her talkshow launch..
'Ellen says she burned the never-to-be-broadcast documentary about her and Anne [Heche] that cameraman Cooley Laffoon was shooting two years ago. It was during this filming that Cooley and Anne—now married —first grew close. 'You talk about a bad experience. I mean everybody has horrible situations in their life. But to sit there and watch, basically, reality TV, real reality TV ... I watched until I couldn't anymore.'' — Smith on the TV Guide interview.
'See, in our community that's frowned upon when you have a big brown wad on your finger. You're just kind of like, can we get rid of that?' — Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley after the cop straight guy they just made over fed his girlfriend a gooey glob of chocolate with his finger, on the Aug. 19 episode.
'I do support domestic partnership. I think that gay marriage [sic] is something that should be between a man and a woman.' — Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Fox News Channel, Aug. 27.
'The percentage of gays [in bodybuilding] is the same, probably, as anywhere. Most bodybuilders are straight, regular street guys, though a lot aren't serious. Many in California are punks, beach bums just lying around in the sun and maybe collecting unemployment.' — Schwarzenegger to Oui magazine.
'Men shouldn't feel like fags just because they want to have nice-looking bodies. Another thing: Recently I posed for a gay magazine, which caused much comment. But it doesn't bother me. Gay people are fighting the same kind of stereotyping that bodybuilders are: People have certain misconceptions about them just as they do about us. Well, I have absolutely no hang-ups about the fag business; though it may bother some bodybuilders, it doesn't affect me at all.' — Schwarzenegger to Oui magazine.
'Eventually when full gay and lesbian rights are available, Americans will do what they did in Vermont. They'll realize it's not such a big deal. People are people. You know what the biggest issues in the gay and lesbian community are? Just like they are in everyone else's society: jobs and health insurance.' — Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean to St. Louis' exp magazine, Aug. 29.
'I actually think these kinds of shows [like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy] that are sort of in-your-face are gonna pass eventually because as gays and lesbians gain greater and greater acceptance in America they're going to be accepted as human beings and these shows are going to lose their shock and novelty value.' — Howard Dean to exp mag.
'He looks like he was freeze-dried in 1978 and brought back to life as a stereotypical 1970s queen. I can't believe that he worked at Ralph Lauren with those shirts, and the matching necklaces and bracelets. The irony of it all is that the other guys are better dressed than him.' — New York Times Magazine Fashion Director Robert Bryan on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley, to The New York Times News Service, Aug. 24.
'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is execrable—a catalog of homosexual stereotypes, played to a throbbing, techno-disco beat, that also systematically denies its gay stars their complexity and their sexuality. From first scene to last, they trill and fuss, displaying their talents at traditionally effeminate domestic tasks. The straight guy, meanwhile, stands back, endures some innocuous flirting and emerges as the ultimate hetero stud. Talk about reaffirming heterosexual primacy: the Fab 5 are the very literal fairy godmothers who help straight dudes hook up, and who then return to their own beds alone.' — Reviewer Christopher Kelly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Aug. 17.
'If you look just at the news coverage of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy alone, you'd be convinced that there weren't any straight people on television.' — Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Executive Director Joan Garry to D.C.'s MetroWeekly, Aug. 21.
'These are not fictional characters—these are actually real people, with real expertise. I have some issues about representations overall, but I think Queer Eye is fun and entertaining. And I don't think the stereotypes hurt here.' — GLAAD's Garry.
'It takes four days to shoot an episode.' — Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Executive Producer David Metzler when asked by The Advocate Sept. 2 if the Fab 5 really work all that magic on the straight guys in one day.
'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy not only set new network records, it out-drew all but one regular broadcast program in its 10 p.m. slot in the key 18-49 age group demographic. ... Queer Eye has broken Bravo ratings records for three weeks in a row and for six of the last eight weeks. ... NBC has pulled in episodes of the show from Bravo to air on its own prime-time schedule, usually in tandem with episodes of its gay-themed comedy Will & Grace. It has also licensed the show and its concept to broadcasters in Britain and Scandinavia. ... Bravo said the final episode of the dating show Boy Meets Boy ... also set new ratings records.' — Reuters.
'Less than equal is less than adequate. To create another institution [such as civil unions] just contributes to the fact that we would tell those members of the gay and lesbian community that they are not entirely part of our society. Why wouldn't they be part of marriage?' — Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon as quoted by the Edmonton Sun, Aug. 13.
'I'm a Catholic and I'm praying. But I am the prime minister of Canada and ... I'm acting as a person responsible for the nation. The problem of my religion—I deal with it in other circumstances.' — Chrétien on his support for full same-sex marriage as quoted by the Edmonton Sun, Aug. 13.
'If people want to do something and it doesn't hurt other people, doesn't reduce other people's rights, we should let them do it. Why not?' — Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum on his support for full same-sex marriage as quoted by the Edmonton Sun, Aug. 13.
'You see the Catholic Church denouncing gay marriage when they have been doing worse in their own church. And never mind how they behaved during World War II! The Holocaust didn't bother them. But gay marriage bothers them. I think they should clean their own house before telling me how to clean mine.' — Tennis champ Martina Navratilova to The New York Times Magazine, Aug. 24.
