'I'm not going to talk about this issue.' — U.S. Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., when asked if he is heterosexual by talk-show host Michelangelo Signorile on Sirius Satellite Radio's OutQ channel, during the Republican National Convention.
'I have always taken the view that outing a gay person should be approached with caution, and that in doing so one should strictly adhere to the Barney Frank Rule. As articulated by the openly gay Massachusetts congressman during another anti-gay GOP witch-hunt over a decade ago, when Frank threatened to out a number of gay-baiting Republican fellow congressmen, the rule insists that outing is only acceptable when a person uses their power or notoriety to hurt gay people. [San Gabriel Valley, Calif., Republican Congressman David Dreier] clearly meets that standard, for his voting record is strewn with anti-gay positions. To cite just a few: He voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would have banned discrimination against gay people in hiring; voted for the gay-bashing Defense of Marriage Act; voted for banning adoption by gay and lesbian couples in the District of Columbia (3,000 miles away from Dreier's district); voted to allow federally funded charities to discriminate against gays in employment, even where local laws prohibit such bias; and voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Dreier is not just a political homophobe but a heartless AIDS-phobe as well, voting against the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program ... and against funding for the federal ADAP program that furnishes the poor with the AIDS meds they need to stay alive.' — Doug Ireland in LA Weekly Sept. 24.
'When I came out and I went through all I did, I did it understanding that it essentially would be[come] this kind of cultural wave. ... And my position was just to be steady and try to have as much elegance and grace as possible, while never shying away from the gay question. I knew people would get used to the fact that I'm gay and there'd be no weirdness about it, and that eventually the focus would be back on the music.' — Singer k.d. lang to the Miami gay publication The Weekly News, Aug. 19.
'I know black people and we're homophobic. [Homosexuality is] taboo and you have these ['down low'] men who sleep with other men, they get penetrated by other men, they penetrate other men, and they will swear on a stack of Bibles that they're not gay. ... They can't even fathom that they'd be seen as gay.' — Filmmaker Spike Lee to the Chicago publication Identity, September issue.
'I was very much supported by the [GLBT] community when I first came out with my music—first in Venezuela and then worldwide. I guess because I'm a strong person, I don't care what others say. I do what I believe is right for me because I respect others' beliefs. [With] the kind of music that I perform, I did get a lot of respect and handholding from the community. It's just like Cher!' — Singer Maria Conchita Alonso to the Chicago publication Identity, sister publication to Windy City Times, September issue.
'The passion invested by the Democratic faithful in taking back the White House has meant that not enough has been said about the imperative of taking back control of the place John Kerry will hopefully be leaving—the United States Senate. ... In looking at the Senate races Democrats can win, I focused on the three open seats currently held by retiring Republicans in Illinois, Colorado and Oklahoma. In each of these states, the Democrats are putting forth a candidate—Barack Obama in Illinois, Ken Salazar in Colorado, and Brad Carson in Oklahoma—capable of bringing a new type of leadership to Washington.' — Nationally syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington.
'Just for starters, Obama is black, Salazar is Hispanic, and Carson is a member of the Cherokee Nation—no small matter when you consider that despite making up over 25 percent of the U.S. population (accounting for more than 71 million Americans), there are currently no blacks, no Hispanics, and just one Native American in the Senate. The World's Most Exclusive Club, indeed. ... As an added bonus, the three are running against some of the most troubling opponents ever to come down the political pike. Even if Obama, Salazar, and Carson weren't so appealing, their opponents—Alan Keyes in Illinois, Pete Coors in Colorado, and Tom Coburn in Oklahoma—are so repellent that their resounding defeat should be a priority for all sentient Americans. More on these bozos as we go along.' — Huffington.
'Obama is currently way out in front of Keyes, the arch-conservative commentator-cum-carpetbagger who, since belatedly entering the race, has helped dig his own political grave with a series of outrageous comments, including equating Obama with slave owners, labeling Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter a 'selfish hedonist,' and claiming that ... 'Christ would not vote for Barack Obama.'' — Huffington.
'SINCE TAKING office, [Massachusetts] Gov. Mitt Romney's only real priority has been boosting his political résumé. But his cynicism and hypocrisy have reached new depths this election season. The self-styled 'reform governor' has chosen to punish some of the University of Massachusetts's lowest-paid workers in the name of tax-cutting, while taking advantage of a loophole in campaign-finance laws so that his rich supporters can curry favor with him in this fall's legislative races.' — The Boston Phoenix on anti-gay-marriage Gov. Romney.
'Now, it's true, as Republicans have pointed out, that neither major party has clean hands when it comes to special-interest money. ... But Romney's attempt to circumvent campaign-finance laws in order to bankroll Republican legislative candidates represents an unprecedented intrusion of special-interest money into local political races ... . ' — The Boston Phoenix.
