'As flashes popped and everyone resumed their self-promotion as if time had frozen on New Year's Eve '89, it took Deborah Harry to serve up some contempo reserve. Debs told me she rejected the offer to be a judge on American Idol because 'I'm not a good judge. I give everything a thumbs-up.' When pressured, she added, 'They can all sing their asses off, but the songs are terrible. They should do some rock songs and stop fucking around!'' — Michael Musto in his Village Voice column.
'Meryl Streep originally hoped to join me tonight to recreate our kiss—I mean, to acknowledge Michael Cunningham for his powerful story telling and literary genius.' — Allison Janney, who co-starred with Meryl Streep in The Hours, at the Human Rights Campaign's annual gala in Washington, D.C. Streep sent a tribute to Cunningham by videotape, saying: 'You portray gay men and women as people who grapple with the same universal themes every human being must face. I'm so proud to have gotten to know you on The Hours, because you are a great artist and you're a very good soul.'
'It's really great to be here working with people who are also fighting the same cause, whether it be social injustice or ugly shoes. We understand.' — Queer Eye's Carson, accompanied by Kyan and Thom, at the HRC gala.
'In objecting to the pay increase voted for federal employees, the president said that paying for it would require reductions in other domestic programs—e.g., environmental cleanup, aid to education, community development block grants, and transportation. After 2 1/2 years of making light of the more than $1.5 trillion that its budgets will add to the federal debt during his term, the administration has rediscovered the importance of controlling deficits and argues that additional federal expenditure on some items must come at the expense of others. So, if we do as the president asks and appropriate $87 billion for Iraq, it will force reductions in other areas of federal spending that have already been cut below the barest minimum. But while it would be a dereliction of my duty to my constituents simply to ratify the president's proposal, neither would it be responsible to reject it categorically. I cast the right vote when I opposed the president's decision to go to war in Iraq. None of the major reasons advanced at the time for this effort has been vindicated by events. Indeed, since the war in Iraq, our role as a force for stability has deteriorated in virtually every trouble spot. Syria, the Palestinians, North Korea, Iran—where there has been a change in America's ability to work for a reduction in violence, tension, and instability, it has been for the worse.' — Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank in the Boston Globe Oct. 10.
'Queer Eye [for the Straight Guy] does pose an interesting question. How exactly are lesbians going to make their play for national prime-time TV? ... A few butch mechanics getting some suburban housewife's old station wagon back on the road?' — Columnist Sally Morrell in Melbourne, Australia's Herald Sun, Oct. 8.
'The five friends of Dorothy who front Queer Eye appear to be the most flamboyant gay stereotypes you're likely to see outside of a My Fair Lady Appreciation Society screening. It's a pretty safe bet that any fictitious TV show presenting five gay characters as breathlessly self-conscious and OTT [Over the Top] as Kyan, Ted, Jai, Thom and Carson would probably be pilloried. But Queer Eye presumably is meant to represent some form of reality, so perhaps one of the things our queer quintet is here to teach us is the truth behind the cliché that stereotypes contain an element of truth, and that it's no big deal. It's certainly fun to watch.' — Columnist Jim Schembri in Melbourne, Australia's The Age, Oct. 9.
'Mostly I've gotten e-mails and cards, beautiful cards from people I don't even know, that would make you cry. It's 99.9 percent positive [feedback].' — Newly out Boston Herald sportswriter Ed Gray to Newsweek, Oct. 9.
'I like a little hyphen. Little Zeta-Jones, she's got a hyphen, doesn't she. Married to Michael Douglas and still retained her hyphen after all these years.' — Dame Edna on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Oct. 2.
'It is no big deal to me. I have always been attracted to women, and I went on dates with women if they asked me. ... It did not seem that different to me. But then I met my [husband], and now he is the apple of my eye.' — Will & Grace's Megan Mullally (Karen) to the Houston Voice, Sept. 26.
''Queer Eye' is very touching and poignant because the straight guys are really open to it and, in the end, so happy, grateful and confident. It is a very interesting cultural study.' — Will & Grace's Megan Mullally (Karen) to the Houston Voice, Sept. 26.
'Hey, where can we file an amicus brief? Fred Durst and his Limp Bizkit bandmates were sued ... in Chicago by 172 concertgoers who claim they were ripped off when the rap/rock group ended a July performance after only 17 scintillating minutes. According to the below Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit, Limp Bizkit cut short its set at Cicero's Hawthorne Racetrack after instigating fans by displaying 'obscene and profane messages to the crowd via four giant monitors.' The complaint also alleges that Durst yelled 'disgusting homophobic and anti-gay statements' at the crowd, and continued his vulgar diatribe even after the group fled the stage (Fred took his mic with him). The breach-of-contract suit, filed by attorney Michael Young, seeks a $25 refund for each attendee at the July 26 show, which also featured Linkin Park and headliner Metallica. According to the complaint, 40,000 people attended the 'Summer Sanitarium Tour' stop, tickets to which cost $75.' — From The Smoking Gun Web site.
'An estimated 25 percent of gay and lesbian couples in the [San Francisco] Bay Area are in biracial or inter-ethnic relationships, according to an analysis of Census 2000 data. Comparatively, 7.4 percent of married couples are in similar relationships nationwide, and 15.6 percent of married couples in California are equally diverse. ... The number of same-sex diverse couples is far from definitive, however, because it doesn't identify the millions of gays and lesbians who may be dating outside their race or ethnicity but not living together or individuals who did not identify themselves as same-sex couples on the Census questionnaires in 2000.' — From a Sept. 15 feature in the San Francisco Gay Chronicle (sfgate.com).
'Yet whether you look at the Castro district, California or across the country, gay and lesbian couples are in more diverse relationships than their married heterosexual counterparts, Census data show. The greater diversity of the Bay Area in general may add to the larger numbers of cross-cultural couples, especially when combined with the region's more progressive social climate, said Gilbert Herdt, director of the National Sexuality Resource Center at San Francisco State University. It's also very likely that gays and lesbians simply by being gay and facing a lifetime of prejudice and homophobia are more compassionate and accepting, Herdt said.' — From SFGate.com
Pictured: Streep in The Hours.
