" ( Obama ) treats gay media the way he's treating the gay community. He's keeping us at a stiff arm's distance, not saying to go away or leave me alone, but to stand back over there at some distance. 'I'm going to do what I can for you. I am not against you. I know you have needs. [ Still, ] I'll come to you when I want to say something.'" — Syndicated LGBT press writer Lisa Keen to the gay press newsletter Press Pass Q, June 10.
"He ( Obama ) interacts with us ( gay media ) when he needs us, when it's politically expedient." — Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff to the LGBT press newsletter Press Pass Q, June 10.
"It is important to say that under Rehoboth law this was not against the law. In this case, they had male genitalia; therefore, they are not guilty of a crime." — Rehoboth Beach, Del., Police Chief Keith Banks after beach lifeguards reportedly asked transgenders to cover their breasts, to The News Journal, June 3.
" ( T ) he path to repeal ( of Don't Ask, Don't Tell ) has become cluttered in ways that only Washingtonians could rationalize. At the core of this delay seems to be a desire by the Pentagon to kick the can down the road and stop a vote on the issue this year. ... The White House's silence is providing oxygen to those who believe that Congress should not act this year." — Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese writing at Politico.com, May 10.
"They come to Daddy. They know Daddy has a loud mouth." — Veteran activist Larry Kramer on his involvement with efforts to stop the world's oldest AIDS organization, New York City's Gay Men's Health Crisis, from moving to a new building, to Gay City News, May 28. Story: tinyurl.com/3acezxv.
"Being a gay man with a foot half in and out of the closet is tough; the games it plays with your mind—and more importantly, your heart—are hard to put into words but I am going to try my best. I finally accepted my sexuality at the end of 2006 following a huge anxiety attack at work. After what were literally years of torment, denial and very, very dark times, I couldn't live a lie to myself any more. You often read that when people came out they had felt depressed or had suicidal tendencies. I, like them, experienced all of the extremes, but mostly it was the loneliness that was the hardest part of being gay—and still is." — Olympic swimmer Daniel Kowalski, who won four medals for Australia, writing in The Age, April 18.
"It's so easy to hear the negative and not the positive, especially if you make the mistake of looking at the Internet, where everybody whines and bitches about everything. So one of the things that I've been working on in the past couple months in particular is to really focus on positivity and really just enjoy myself and enjoy what I do." — Singer Adam Lambert to the gay magazine Frontiers IN L.A., June 2.
"When all that stuff happened with the AMA awards and that whole controversy about me kissing that guy and grabbing the other dude—it's funny because there was a generational divide within the gay community. There were some more conservative gays that were like: 'You shouldn't be doing that. You're painting us in a bad light, making us look trashy.' And I remember thinking to myself, as proud as I am to be a member of the gay and lesbian community, it's not my job to paint a picture of the community. I'm only responsible for painting a picture of who I am as an individual." — Singer Adam Lambert to the gay magazine Frontiers IN L.A., June 2.
"Proposition 8 changed ( things ) . Really for the first time in my life, I felt like I knew what it was like to feel discrimination and hatred. I felt less-than. I felt like my government was telling me that I wasn't as important as everyone else and that I didn't deserve the same rights and freedoms. I found myself having discussions with so-called liberal people about the word 'marriage' and I discovered that my expectation at being considered equal and wanting to be treated as such was extreme. So I started talking. I talked about injustice and inequality wherever I could. I shared private details of my life with Ellen to make a point and I talked about my frustration that a basic human right could be taken away by a majority vote. I developed a knack for turning any question into a discussion about gay marriage. ... And I won't stop talking until equality is achieved and there's nothing left to talk about." — Portia de Rossi, Ellen's wife, at the Human Rights Campaign's Los Angeles Hero Awards Dinner, March 14, as transcribed by lgbtpov.com .
"Christine ( Marinoni ) would probably kill me for saying this, but my daughter said one time that if you really had to break this down, ( it looks like ) she would be butch and I would be femme ... but really once you get to know us it's really the opposite." — Openly lesbian Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon ( Miranda ) to The Advocate, June issue.
"The very fact that we don't get played on the radio in the U.S., and yet all these people come to see us because we have a reputation for putting on a good show, is incredible to me. It's quite a feat on the part of the fans and on our part, I think." — Openly gay Erasure singer Andy Bell to Windy City Times, June 2.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
