'Enough.' — Singer Deborah Harry (Blondie) when asked by the British lesbian magazine Diva, 'How many women have you slept with?', June issue.
'I go there [Provincetown] and do everything that no one would think I would ever do. I go swimming every day. I ride my bicycle. I get a sun tan. I go to the dunes. It's probably the closest John Waters could ever get to being spiritual.' — Gay filmmaker John Waters to Boston's Bay Windows, April 29.
'The reforms at the Food and Drug Administration that did away with placebo-based studies for drugs treating fatal illnesses and that allowed the fast-tracking of certain HIV drugs happened in spite of Ronald Reagan, not because of him. They happened as a direct result of the anger of gay men of whom Cyd Zeigler Jr. is now so ashamed. Men like me, who had to physically take over the building in which the FDA was housed before the government would even listen to us. Contrary to Zeigler's assertion, Reagan believed AIDS was exclusively a 'gay disease' —it was his justification for doing nothing about it—and his administration kept any evidence to the contrary suppressed. His appearance in a public service announcement in 1990 occurred two years after the end of his political career, after more than 30,000 people had died—and even then, he made the distinction between 'innocent victims' like Ryan White, on whose behalf he appeared, and the rest of us. ... Our anger didn't kill Reagan or anybody else. But Reagan's intractable prejudice, inaction, and stupidity sure killed a lot of us. Zeigler should not be 'ashamed to be gay' [because of the gays attacking Reagan]. He should be ashamed to call himself a journalist until he gets his facts straight. Like him, I'm worried about where our movement is headed—if amnesiac youngsters like him are at its forefront.' — Activist Andrew Miller in a letter to the New York Blade.
'I like John Kerry. I know that he can't really come out and support gay marriage as gay marriage. He can't say the words, for whatever political reasons, but I think he's reasonable enough. ... We are going to have to push for gay marriage within his presidency.' — Comedian Margaret Cho to the Chicago gay publication Identity, June issue.
'This is a great group of guys we have on this team. You have to understand. In that locker room, there is no color barrier. We do not have a color barrier. We are a unit that cares. The reason I say cares is because it's so hard to let things go when you care. I would say [it's] love, and everybody would say, 'You're a faggot,' but I'm not. We care in that locker room. My feminine side might come out once in a while, but I'm telling you, there is a lot of love in that locker room.' — Miami Dolphins linebacker Junior Seau accepting the team's leadership award June 2 in Davie, Fla., according to the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.
'I'm sick and tired of being told I have to pretend HIV/AIDS isn't an illness or a disease, and that the virus itself isn't, in fact, a biohazard, to make guys who have HIV feel better. [I am] sick and tired of HIV-negative guys who act like they're entitled to risk-free, unprotected sex, as no such thing exists. On the other hand, I'm sick and tired of HIV-positive guys who think that they're sero-status shouldn't have any impact whatsoever on their sex lives. I'm sick and tired of HIV-positive guys acting like an HIV-negative guy's fear of becoming infected is somehow unreasonable.' — Syndicated advice columnist Dan Savage writing at PlanetOut.com, June 4.
'I didn't wear anything underneath [the toga]. Just like the Greeks in ancient times, who wore no underwear. I guess you could say they were freeballing. But when you think about it, it's a bit odd, because everything— your face, chest and arms— are protected with this heavy armor, yet your vitals are hanging in the wind. That's a kill shot, to me. I don't understand that. A lot more soldiers would have died if they had thought about that, I'm sure.' — Brad Pitt on the making of his new film Troy, to the Rehoboth Beach, Del., gay magazine exp, May 21.
'It [having sexual experiences with a female friend in my 20s] was lovely, I loved it, and while there's part of me that deeply wishes I was hardcore homosexual, unfortunately I feel I am deep down heterosexual. I really think [gay experimentation is] a rite of passage, and I highly recommend it to anybody who's pre-life-long-commitment. Wouldn't this planet be a different place if all fraternities and macho communities were required to experiment with their sexuality? I think it would be really great; it should be like required reading.' — Singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette to the Miami gay newspaper The Weekly News, May 27.
'I used to be a diva, OK? But now that the term is so loosely used, I don't want to be a diva. ... It used to mean 'grand.' Getting a show done and doing it well without tracks or tapes or a lot of props on the stage and a lot of distractions. That's my definition of a diva; you can just do a show with a mike. ... My thoughts on being a diva are not being a little, sexy, beautiful girl with no voice.' — Patti LaBelle to the Palm Springs gay magazine The Bottom Line, May 14.
'Creating a network specifically for the LGBT community is something we've wanted to do for a long, long time, and it's an idea we feel is overdue. Despite our nation's progress on civil rights and the growing visibility of gay people in business, society and even in television programming— what has been missing is a full-time home for this important and influential audience on television.' — Tom Freston, chairman and CEO of MTV Networks, announcing on May 25 that 'LOGO, a new cable television network targeted at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) viewers,' will debut on Feb. 17, 2005.
'N-Nitrosamine is one of the most carcinogenic substances. There is a pressing need for manufacturers to tackle this problem.' — The Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, announcing May 28 that it found a cancer-causing chemical in 29 of 32 brands of condoms it tested. The carcinogen is thought to be present in a substance used to improve condom elasticity.
