Pictured George Michael.
'IF YOUR children couldn't get ready for a swim meet because gender-evolving individuals were occupying locker rooms strewn with used prophylactics, you might say something.' — Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass on the confrontation at a Chicago YMCA between participants in an overnight transgender fashion show and parents of kids arriving for an early morning event. Some parents said this wasn't about sexuality, but rather adult-child appropriateness. Others questioned the sensationalizing of the 'trans' angle by some in the media.
'Thank you to all the fans for their concern expressed on the Erasure forum over my H.I.V. status. I found out I was H.I.V. + in June 1998 when I had a bout of pneumonia in Mallorca, since then I have been taking combination therapy & I am feeling fine in fact I have never felt better. Being H.I.V. does not mean that you have a.i.d.s. My life expectancy should be the same as anyone else's' so there is no need to panic, there is still so much hysteria & ignorance surrounding H.I.V & a.i.d.s lets just get on with life i.e. making music, doing a live tour & generally having a good time. Lots of love Andy.' — Gay singer Andy Bell of Erasure writing on the group's Web site, Dec. 13.
'There's something about a group of women doing insane things that appeals to me. I am fascinated by them. ... I like and understand women. I don't know if it's a gay thing or not.' — Openly gay Desperate Housewives creator and executive producer Marc Cherry to The Advocate, Dec. 21.
'You have to be smarter when you write for gay people, and I say that because I'm writing for myself. Also, when you grow up gay, you're outside the mainstream and have a different take on the world. That's why gay artists have had such a powerful influence on popular culture— because they are willing to go to different places and face brave new worlds.' — Openly gay Desperate Housewives creator and executive producer Marc Cherry to The Advocate, Dec. 21.
'When you put a face to our issues, that's when we get support. We're not going to win at the ballot box until we start winning at the water cooler and in the church pews.' — Human Rights Campaign communications director Steven Fisher to The New York Times, Dec. 9.
'Several centuries ago it would have been understood that marriage should be available only to opposite-sex couples. The recognition of same-sex marriage in several Canadian jurisdictions as well as two European countries belies the assertion that the same is true today. ... Our constitution is a living tree which, by way of progressive interpretation, accommodates and addresses the realities of modern life.' — The Supreme Court of Canada Dec. 9, giving its blessing to the federal government's plan to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. The feds had asked the Supremes for their thoughts on the matter.
'We will move ahead ... with all deliberate speed to introduce legislation which will extend civil marriage to gays and lesbians.' — Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler Dec. 9 after the Supreme Court of Canada declared that there are no obstacles to nationwide legalization of full same-sex marriage. It already is legal in six provinces and one territory.
'Fundamentally it comes down to equality rights. I do not believe you can have two classes of citizens.' — Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin Dec. 9.
'The reality is that the marriage movement is being driven by individual couples going to court and seeking their rights. And there is no great, grand, gay cabal that can tell couples, 'Don't seek your rights, and just wait a while till the public is ready for it.'' — National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman to the Boston Globe, Dec. 13.
'My fashion advice is do as I say not do as I do. ... I don't need everyone to look like me. Look like yourself! Although that's not to suggest that I don't have the best taste in the world because, of course, I do.' — Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 13.
'I kept having Japanese people point at me in airports and say, 'Pink Savior! Pink Savior!' I couldn't figure what was going on—until it turned out that 'Queer Eye' is called 'The Pink Saviors' in Japan.' — Kressley.
'The best thing about the show and something that none of us expected is that it has helped 15-year-olds who think they might be gay to now talk about that. The show is really about people helping people, so it has opened up that dialogue between parents and kids talking about being gay. It has promoted acceptance of gayness as a normal thing in life, not a big deal.' — Kressley.
'I don't think I've made a point of being openly gay—I'm just secure. I don't sit on TV and talk about it. I've never done interviews for Out Magazine or The Advocate. People always tell me, 'You helped me come out.' I always reply, 'You did that on your own.'' — Village People Indian Felipe Rose to the Montreal weekly newspaper Hour, Dec. 2.
'If I stay at home too much, if anything it is because I am too contented right now. I have travelled the world many times and, at 41, I think I have earned the right to a quiet life.' — Gay singer George Michael to Britain's Heat magazine, Dec. 14.
'I never saw an organization exist so long, raise so much money, and do so little. Their annual budget is $25 million! I think they get a lot of money from rich people in the heartland. I want to ask those people: What are you getting for it? This election is a real slap in the face to HRC and their complete ineptitude.' — Veteran activist and author Larry Kramer on America's largest gay political organization, the Human Rights Campaign, to The Village Voice, Dec. 15.
'HRC seems to be more and more devoted to ass kissing. That way lies disaster. We've got to teach them: You don't suck up. There's a great deal of feeling that all they do is pay to go to parties in Washington, to be on the circuit, to be seen, as if that amounts to much.' — Kramer.
'I grew up nonpolitical. I was out on Fire Island laughing at the Gay Pride marches on TV. What politicized me was a couple of friends dying real fast.' — Kramer to The Village Voice, Dec. 15.
'Gay marriage will be completely legal in Canada very soon. It's been oddly ignored in much of the U.S. media and hasn't really been much discussed among those in the terrified red states except when, deep in the night, from their respective lumpy twin beds, they whisper to each other across the room as they pop their Ambien and stroke their portfolios and curse their very genitals: oh my God what's wrong with those freakin' Canadians?' — Columnist Mark Morford, SFGate.com, Dec. 15.
'That's the only kind of woman that I really like. Women who're very strong, really self-assured, very handy with power tools, incredibly self-actualized. That's why butch dykes are the best.' — Comedian Margaret Cho to the British lesbian magazine Diva, January issue.
