"I've heard from readers, mostly gay men, who wonder why their local gay paper has vacuumed sex out of the pages and treats gay life as if it's more like an ethnic identity than a sexual identity. They feel increasingly alienated from the leadership and commentators. Though gay men are half our movement, they often feel like their issues have been put on the back burner by the major queer political groups and newspapers, even as they're expected to pay much of the cost of keeping the organizations, the court cases and the lobbying going. We try not to do that at Pink Triangle Press, where we make an effort to remember that at its root, ours is a struggle for sexual freedom." — Gareth Kirkby, editor in chief of The Guide magazine, to the gay press newsletter Press Pass Q, June issue. Pink Triangle Press also owns the Canadian chain of Xtra! newspapers.
"The way that same-sex marriage should reach the federal level is that it absolutely should be decided by the Supreme Court as ... a 14th Amendment issue. There's no argument about it. We are citizens of the United States. Citizens of the United States are guaranteed equal protection under the law by the 14th Amendment, and that's the end of ... the discussion. You can't treat people differently. It's unconstitutional." — Playwright Tony Kushner to CNN, June 15.
"Anyone with half a brain in the incredibly shrinking G.O.P. knows that gay bashing will further dim the party's already remote chance of recruiting young voters to replenish its aging ranks, much as the right's immigrant bashing drove away Hispanics. This is why Republican politicians now say they oppose only gay marriage, not gay people, even when it's blatant that they're dissembling. Naked homophobia—those campy, fear-mongering National Organization for Marriage ads, for instance—is increasingly unwelcome in a party fighting for survival. The wingnuts don't even have Dick Cheney on their side on this issue." — New York Times columnist Frank Rich, May 23.
"Who could have imagined that the GLBT community would even notice a Justice Department brief on an obscure case, let alone arise as one in full-throated condemnation? The simple fact of that reaction, quite aside from our specific objections to the brief, led the administration to understand one important thing that they didn't understand before. To wit, they don't understand us. I know this sounds Rumsfeldian, but if you don't know what you don't know, you're not going to make any progress, and, in fact, you're not even going to worry about the not-known thing. The administration may have now learned a little something about how much we care, how closely we watch, and how frustrated we have become. And in the process they may begin to see us, not as a self-absorbed little interest group, but as the truly battered, long suffering and incredibly patient segment of society that we are. Taxpayers with no benefits. Couples with no recognition. Soldiers with no identity. Employees with no protection. The list goes on. ... Maybe Obama has learned that we really do need his help." — San Francisco Bay Times writer Ann Rostow, June 25.
"Obama has long been, as he says, a fierce advocate for gay equality. The Windy City Times has reported that he initially endorsed legalizing same-sex marriage when running for the Illinois State Senate in 1996. The most common rationale for his current passivity is that his plate is too full. But the president has so far shown an impressive inclination both to multitask and to argue passionately for bedrock American principles when he wants to. Relegating fundamental constitutional rights to the bottom of the pile until some to-be-determined future seems like a shell game." — New York Times columnist Frank Rich, May 23.
"As anger at White House missteps boiled over this month, the president abruptly staged a ceremony to offer some crumbs. The pretext was the signing of an executive memorandum bestowing benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees. But some of those benefits were already in force, and the most important of them all, health care, was not included because it is forbidden by DOMA." — New York Times columnist Frank Rich, June 27.
"Obama's inaction on gay civil rights is striking. So is his utterly uncharacteristic inarticulateness. The Justice Department brief defending DOMA has spoken louder for this president than any of his own words on the subject." — New York Times columnist Frank Rich, June 27.
"There's a perception in Washington that you can throw little bits of partial equality to gay people and that gay people will be satisfied with that." — Oscar-winning "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to The New York Times, June 27.
"I am convinced that the White House needs to know that if it's only communicating with HRC, it's not communicating with the gay community." — Gay blogger Andrew Sullivan taking a shot at the Human Rights Campaign, June 7.
"Firstly, ich vant to say zat I find Obama an inspiration—it gives me great hope zat, after years of struggle, someone can at last get to ze White House, despite being incredibly hot. On ze other hand, it's slightly disappointing that he needed zat beard, Michelle, to help him—but vone shtep at a time. In terms of his style, he perfectly bridges Serious und Sexy...Oval Office und Oval Orifice." — Brüno ( Sacha Baron Cohen ) to GQ, June 16.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
