Pictured Queer As Folk's Peter Paige. Photo by Rex Wockner
'I have not heard of one person that came out of the closet that wishes they could go back in. And that is the key right there—nobody wants to go back in the closet, and have to pretend, and lie, and try to keep track of who you lied to, who you are not out to, what did you say to that one, what did you say to this person, who is this person. I know women that were together for 20 years, and they were rearranging the furniture when the parents came to visit, and the parents knew, and they were still pretending that they didn't know! It's such a waste of energy! Use it in a positive way. Go volunteer, go to an animal shelter. Go pick up garbage on the beach for a mile!' — Tennis legend Martina Navratilova to PlanetOut.com, May 6.
'I was upset when people assumed that Ellen DeGeneres should be doing more and Rosie O'Donnell should be doing more. I'm like, doing more of what? They have just given up their privacy for your cause, and you want them to do what? How much more do you need them to give to be happy? So, no, just by being honest and out about who you are, to me, is enough; you don't have to do one thing for the rest of your life when you are that famous, because that's your contribution right there.' — Navratilova to PlanetOut.com, May 6.
'Under Bush, in the past five years, the U.S. has made zero new friends. But we have made a huge number of new and increasingly venomous enemies. And no, they don't hate us because of our malls, Dubya. They don't hate us because of our freedoms. They don't hate us because of our low-cut jeans and our moronic 8 mpg Ford Expeditions or our corrupt Diebold voting system that snuck you into office. They hate us, George, because of our policies. Anti-Muslim. Pro-Israel. Oil-über-alles. Anti-U.N. Anti-Kyoto. Anti-planet. Pro-war. Pro-insularity. Pseudo-swagger. Bogus staged 'town hall' meetings stocked with prescreened monosyllabic Bush sycophants. Ego. Empire.' — SFGate.com columnist Mark Morford, April 22.
'You are who you are and you love who you love. To deny legal rights because you're not a heterosexual couple is not fair, it's just not right. It's not the American way and it's not how this country should operate. ... The way the government discriminates against the gay community is just outrageous.' — Judy Shepard, Matt's mother, on same-sex marriage, to the gay magazine QVegas, May issue.
'I really appreciate that gay audiences will just 'go there' with you. They don't gasp, they're not shocked, they're not appalled. And if they are appalled, they love you for appalling them.' — Actress and comedian Kathy Griffin to the gay magazine In Los Angeles, May 16.
'The most effective form of lobbying is for individuals ... to call them [ members of Congress ] up and press them and write to them, and I do think there has been some increasing focus on that. We were addicted to demonstrating. Demonstrations are nice emotional outlets, but they rarely have an impact on politicians.' — Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to the Los Angeles gay magazine Frontiers, April 13.
'He hates us. Really hates us.' — Pink Triangle Press board member Brenda Cossman on Pope Benedict XVI, writing in the Toronto gay newspaper Xtra!, April 28.
' [ Antigay crusader ] Fred [ Phelps ] has issues. I just don't give the man power over anything that I do, say or think. Basically, he is a man lost in a world of hate. I think if he understood how much good he does for us, he would stay at home. We raise money around his appearances now. He's just so lost.' — Judy Shepard, Matt's mother, to the gay magazine QVegas, May issue.
'America was profoundly changed after the September 11 attacks. We went from a country motivated by hope to a country controlled by fear. For the last several years, feeling neither safe nor secure, Americans have lived in extreme anxiety of another impending terrorist attack. I think that as a result, most Americans sought out their faith and reaffirmed their conviction in God. President Bush and the Religious Right's greatest political weapon has been perpetuating fear. Because of the heightened climate of anxiety coupled with religious fervor, they have been successful in stripping Americans of their personal freedoms, suppressing dissent and winning elections based on moral values. I also think the unfathomable fear of being a victim of another terrorist attack has allowed for the crumbling of the wall between church and state, which is a vital part of our historical, legal and political heritage. By allowing personal religious beliefs to infiltrate our political framework, we have enabled this administration to wage a war on women's reproductive rights, squelch scientific advancement, take away our freedom of speech and fill important positions within government and possibly the nation's highest courts with religious extremists. We must not let fear cripple our democracy.' — Barbra Streisand at barbrastreisand.com/statements.html#acountrycontrolledbyfear.
'Fame is a nice distraction [ but ] after a while it's just a big bore. Even with the money, all the plastic surgery ... I'm going to get old and I'm going to die.' — Roseanne Barr to the lesbian magazine Curve, June issue.
'My stepdaughter is gay. She and her partner have been together in Chicago for 10 years; they have a wonderful relationship. I adore her. She's been my stepdaughter since she was 9 so we have a very good family relationship.' — Golden Girl Betty White to San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times, May 12.
'I think we've already won [ the same-sex marriage battle ] . And that's a hard thing to remember because it's really a scary time. But when you look at what has happened in the gay-rights movement in the last 36-37 years, we have progressed further, in a shorter period of time, than any civil-rights movement in the history of the planet, and there's bound to be a backlash. ... Uppity people get uppity and get excited and get organized and there's a backlash. But I truly believe that we have so profoundly impacted the generation behind us that we've already won. We just don't know it yet.' — Queer As Folk's Peter Paige ( Emmett ) to the St. Louis gay newspaper The Vital Voice, May 13.
'U.S. Census figures show that Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country—boasting more family stability than any of the 18 states that have adopted constitutional bans on gay marriage. [ T ] here is no statistical validity to the claim that allowing gays to marry has undermined the institution here.' — From a Boston Globe editorial, May 17.
