"This is our moment. This is the time to demand equality. If you lead with confidence, you can win it in 2010.Do not be afraid of it. And do not put our rights on hold any more." — Openly gay Steve Hildebrand, who was Barack Obama's deputy national campaign manager and now is pushing for a 2010 ballot campaign to repeal Proposition 8, speaking Aug. 22 at the San Diego Democratic Club's annual Freedom Awards, according to the Gay & Lesbian Times in its Aug. 27 issue. California gay leaders are split on whether to try to repeal Prop 8 in 2010 or 2012.
"I went and I got diagnosed and everything and I got the special swine flu drugs. I'm better. ... I had it. It's over. It's done. ... It is the predominant strain of flu now. First my girlfriend got it and then I got it. It was just like a really stanky flu, and I had to take a week off and Alison Stewart did my show." — MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on TV's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Aug. 31.
"My first date with my girlfriend Susan was at a shooting range. That was awesome. It was ladies' day on the range. Her sister is a lifetime NRA member and she was organizing ladies' day on the range at her gun club. And so we shot AiR-15s and we threw tomahawks and we did archery and pistols and skeet. Susan was really good with skeet. She was wearing a dress. I mean, first date, right? So we're trying to impress each other. She's all dressed up to the nines, with this giant shotgun." — MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on TV's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Aug. 31.
"I really do think that gays are the best urban pioneers, and they're the best neighbors you can have. People don't seem to understand how good it is that if a gay couple moves into your neighborhood and starts restoring a house? Hey—your property values are going up." — Singer Linda Ronstadt to PlanetOut.com, Aug. 26.
"Some of the strongest community that we know in this country is in the gay community, because they've had to band together to survive emotionally. I'm not so sure this country understands or values that." — Singer Linda Ronstadt to PlanetOut.com, Aug. 26.
"I had moved back to Tucson with my kids because I just thought it was quieter, and my family was there. But Tucson has turned out to be a very conservative place, and I didn't want my kids coming home from school saying things like 'That's so gay.' So we moved back to San Francisco, and I sent my kids to a school that actively taught that homophobic remarks are just not OK, and my kids' attitudes have changed as a result of it." — Singer Linda Ronstadt to PlanetOut.com, Aug. 26.
"My lesbian friends' children are becoming teenagers. It was a big deal for about 10 minutes and now everybody goes through the same crap that everyone goes through in life. It's lovely to see families show up in all different ways and that the pervasive issue is how wanted and loved the children feel." — Singer Melissa Manchester to San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times, Aug. 27.
"In DC. Worried about whether the set for Meet the Press hides sneakers as well as the one at MSNBC." — Openly lesbian MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in an Aug. 15 tweet.
"Even when I'm busy, I run to the computer during the day and try to remind people ( through Twitter ) of little things and ideas. It's a nice creative outlet." — Lesbian comedian and actress Sandra Bernhard to San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times, Aug 27.
"I decided to come out publicly ( 15 years ago ) because I was talking to a new ( British ) gay magazine, Attitude, which had just started publishing. It seemed a bit ridiculous to talk to them and not say I was gay. It wasn't a really big deal for me. But I had never discussed it with my parents at that age. I was 40 years old at this point. So it made my parents confront this issue. They were very nice about it all." — Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys to the D.C. magazine Metro Weekly, Sept. 3.
"It was scary ( becoming a gay spokesperson after I came out ) because I really wasn't up on my politics. I was kind of there, but not like some of these amazing people like David Mixner, Urvashi Vaid, Kate Clinton and some of the people I was meeting. So it was scary. I take it very seriously that I am sometimes more or less a representative of the community. It is a great responsibility and a great honor too." — Melissa Etheridge to Los Angeles' Lesbian News, August issue.
"We ( gays ) are a sweet group of people who just really want to love and dance. We want to work and decorate our homes and fix up our houses. For us to have to fight for our equal rights for that is really strange." — Melissa Etheridge to Los Angeles' Lesbian News, August issue.
"My mom was always for gay marriage, but I think me being so vocal about it has made her want to be more vocal about it. She texted me: 'Gay marriage passed in Maine!!'" — Meghan McCain, John's daughter, to Out.com, July 20.
" ( Gay equality is ) my generation's civil rights movement." — Meghan McCain, John's daughter, to Out.com, July 20.
"I have, apparently, hit the Facebook friend limit. They allow no more." — Frequently gay-themed San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford on his Facebook page July 15. Morford has 4,999 "friends."
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
