Pictured Britney Spears has almost done more for gay marriage than the Massachusetts' Supreme Court. 'Britney Spears can get married in Las Vegas on a whim and have it annulled within days ('Las Vegas: Bridal
Britney?,' Arts Briefing, Jan. 5), but gay people like me, who have been in a loving, faithful, monogamous
relationship with one partner for more than a dozen years, are not allowed to marry because some say we
would damage the institution of marriage. Is something wrong with this picture?' — Alan L. Light, Iowa City to
The New York Times' letters department.
'In the interest of preserving the sanctity of the institution of
marriage, I am proposing a constitutional amendment that will make it illegal for pop stars to marry.' — Donald
M. Smyth, Bethlehem, Pa., to The Times.
'Who would have believed that Britney Spears would end up
striking a blow for gay marriage? I'm not talking about the pop star's fleeting moments with Madonna. I'm
talking about her fleeting hours with Jason Allen Alexander. The newly wed and unwed Britney began her
career as a professional virgin, telling little-girl fans they could be sexy without having sex before marriage.
Then, year by year, hit by hit, she performed a professional striptease act, from plaid skirt to Esquire buff, from
Justin Timberlake to Jason Alexander. Early one Vegas morn, after watching that romantic classic, The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, these hometown friends looked at each other and, according to Jason, said, 'Let's do
something wild, crazy. Let's go get married, just for the hell of it.' ... After 55 hours, the 'I do's' became 'I don'ts,'
the vows were annulled and assorted folks chimed in with the same thought: Hey, a man and woman can get
married on a lark, but when a committed gay couple wants to make it legal, they're accused of wrecking the
institution? I don't think we should judge straight marriage by the lowest common denominator of a Vegas
quickie.' — Columnist Ellen Goodman in the Boston Globe.
'For the first thousand years of Christianity, the
church didn't want anything to do with marriage, which was about property, not spirituality. In the Middle Ages,
clerics and lords fought for control of marriage. The lords, kind of like Britney's mom, Lynne, didn't want their
kids to be able to marry without parental permission.' — Goodman.
'And the idea that same-sex marriage
somehow disparages heterosexual marriage? We can put that to rest. Who needs gay couples when you have
Britney and Jason?' — Goodman.
'Things are moving in the right direction in Europe, but in the States we
are still far behind. ... Under the current administration, we are certainly not going to get ahead.' — Martina
Navratilova in Hong Kong, asked about gay rights.
'You have straight couples, who when they get married it
happens overnight. They immediately have more rights than we have in a committed relationship.' —
Navratilova.
'It's like watching five little gay boys take revenge on the straight world for all the humiliations
they suffered in grade school.' — Columnist Brent Ledger on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, in Vancouver's
Xtra! West, Dec. 11.
'Billed as the show's fashion expert, [Carson Kressley] looks like one of those
old-style queens who used to cuddle a miniature white poodle in one diamond-encrusted claw. One week he
was wearing a shirt that looked like a badly mended quilt. Take his fashion advice and I can guarantee you'll
never get laid again.' — Ledger on Queer Eye.
'Gays are not necessarily more stylish than straight men.
Exhibit A: the gay fashion 'expert' on 'Queer Eye' [Carson Kressley] who dispenses sartorial advice while
dressed like the Children Snatcher in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.'' — Author Mark Simpson, who invented the
word 'metrosexual', writing at Salon.com, Jan. 5.
'When Air National Guard absentee George W. Bush
dressed up in [Tom] Cruise's 'Top Gun' costume and used the USS Abraham Lincoln as a giant,
nuclear-powered strap-on, that was as brazen an exhibition of cross-dressing as there's ever been.' — Author
Mark Simpson writing at Salon.com, Jan. 5.
'I don't know too many men who can pull off orange. And if I
were a big husky boy like [U.S. Homeland Security Secretary] Tom Ridge, I would definitely avoid it like the
plague.'— Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley to Newsweek, Dec. 30.
'Queer Nation and
queer theory have morphed into Queer As Folk and Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. We're no longer angry and
political. We just have relationships and decorate. Queer has lost its original edge, transformed into a
respectable inclusive word for gay. Progress? Hard to say, really.' — Brenda Cossman writing in the Toronto
gay newspaper Xtra!, Dec. 25.
'President Bush can get downright cryptic when he talks out of both sides of
his mouth. Example: His position on whether gay families should be recognized as legitimate and whether gay
partners should have the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples. The president says that he
would support a constitutional amendment that would restrict marriage to a union between a man and a
woman, but he has also said that states should be free to sanction what 'legal arrangements' they will. Huh?'
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial, Dec. 29.
'The Republican Party seems eager to run against me
because of my role in enactment of this historic [Vermont civil-unions] law. I welcome that debate. I can't wait to
ask the President of the United States ... to repudiate the GOP-authored Defense of Marriage Act, an
unconstitutional, mean-spirited law that stoked fears of homosexuality.' — Democratic presidential candidate
Howard Dean on his Web site.
'In the early days, yes, there was pressure not to [come out], from them [the
other Kids in the Hall] and outside, especially when we were going to be on television. Most people said I was
crazy and they were right, but I did it anyways. But now, no. No one gives a shit.' — Kids in the Hall's Scott
Thompson to St. Louis' The Vital Voice, Dec. 26.
'I've been around a lot of drag queens. I see myself a lot.
And they do a better job of me than I do.' — Former televangelist Tammy Faye Messner to the Associated
Press, Dec. 30. Messner hosted a drag-bingo benefit for the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina in Durham,
N.C., Jan. 2.
