"I can definitely relate to doing crazy stuff for love." -- Antonio Sabato Jr. on his gay role in the new movie Testosterone, a boy-meets-boy, boy-dumps-boy, boy-chases-boy-to-Argentina story. The Advocate, Dec. 24
"Men are taught to see anything on the opposite side of themselves as something sexual, and I guess that includes gay men. It's crazy. But I think that's why there's sometimes tension between straight and gay men. We've been taught to be predators, and straight men don't always know what to do with the idea of another man as something to be pursued or exploited sexually."-- Singer Justin Timberlake to The Advocate, Dec. 24.
"Brad Pitt. Sorry, I couldn't be more original than that. But he's just so damn good-lookin'!" -- Jackass star, Johnny Knoxville on who would be his dream date if he woke up one morning gay. Advocate, Dec. 24.
"To each his own. I enjoyed it. I accepted it as a challenge and a place to explore. I viewed it as a privilege. I say, Jump in. See what it's about for you." -- Actor Chris Meloni (Oz and Law & Order) on playing gay roles. Out Magazine, January 2003.
"I think that now there's an assumption [in news reporting] about equal rights and what that means in the terms of gender preference. You don't have to go out and make the case on all fronts anymore." -- Diane Sawyer to The Advocate about how she believes the environment for reporting on gay issues has improved over her three-decade career. Dec. 24.
"I'm all for anything we can do that goes after all the shortsighted and closed-mindedness." -- George Clooney on playing a gay role in the future. Advocate, Dec. 24.
"The best thing about loss is, it wakes you up to the fact that you've been spared. You have life, and what are you going to do with it to help? As your days grow in number, you want to leave something behind. I suppose it's just a natural procreative drive. It does cross my mind that I would like to have a companion. I've certainly had male companions. I think it's natural that we want to pair off. It could be somebody younger or older or somebody the same sex or the opposite sex. I'm open to the possibilities." -- Dancer/ actor Tommy Tune about his life to The Advocate, Dec. 24.
"People are much more open about sexuality, full stop. Whether it's gay, straight, bi, or S/M, it's like we're saturated with it. And the whole gay scene has become so commercialized, especially in the U.K. It almost seems like a career move." -- Erasure's Andy Bell on the release of a new Erasure CD to Out Magazine, January 2003.
"I think people are innately bisexual but a big chunk of those people will never consciously come to the realization. I had always been attracted to both men and women, even when I was a little girl. When I'd have little girls spend the night, I'd try and put the moves on them. I thought it was fantastic. And I like boys too. Later, I had crushes but never a full-on relationship with a woman because all the women I liked were straight and were, like, 'What is happening?'" -- Megan Mullally (Karen Walker on Will & Grace) to Out Magazine about her bisexuality, January 2003.
"Many young men of color don't identify themselves as gay or even bisexual. Because of the taboo on homosexuality in their communities, many date or marry women, thus increasing the risk of transmitting the virus to their female partners." -- Reuben Marrero, community health specialist of the youth initiative in NY in the New York Times Magazine, Dec. 22. It was a special AIDS issue.
"I never pretended to have a boyfriend. My crush on Tom Cruise is real--I never said I wanted to have sex with him. It stunned me when, after the Diane Sawyer interview, they did a focus group and it said 60% of people didn't know, but I don't believe that. I believe they knew." -- Rosie to The Advocate about people saying they didn't know she was gay. [She is on the cover Jan. 21 as their Person of the Year.]
"I disagree. As long as you didn't say it, they didn't have to know." -- Advocate's Judy Wieder in response to Rosie.
"I'll tell you why I didn't feel the need to attend the vigils for Matthew Shepard--his death was horrific; it is the worst in us, but that doesn't mean gay people should only stand up when it's a gay person murdered. It also means when a man is dragged to death because he's black in Texas--it means all injustices." -- Rosie on why she did not attend the Shepard vigil.
"Of course, but the problem with hate-crime laws is that while they cover James Byrd's atrocious death, most states refuse to add gays to their list of those protected by law from hate crimes." -- Advocate's Wieder in response to Rosie's comment on the vigil.
"The gay community needs to stop pointing fingers at their brothers and sisters and saying 'Not gay enough.' It's not as though gay people didn't know I was gay; it was the people in Iowa." -- Rosie about people treating her with compassion.
"Yes, but the people in Iowa need to know." -- Wieder back to Rosie on the importance of the people in Iowa knowing she's gay.
"She [Ellen] came on my show, and we did the 'Lebanese thing'; I wanted to go there because I wanted people who were smart enough to get it and hear what I was saying: I'm one of you. That's why I did it." -- Rosie to Wieder.
"Yes, and the people who knew about both of you, knew. And those watching the show who didn't know, still didn't know." -- Wieder in response.
"I see it in the eyes of people who have stopped me since I came out, and I get it. I have seen gay people come over to me and cry and tell me how proud they are of me that I was now a part of them. And what I always say is 'Thank you--and just so you know, I was always a part of you.' They knew." -- Rosie when asked if she knows what coming-out has meant to people.
"No, they didn't." -- Wieder's response.
"I guess they didn't. But Judy, to me, I thought, Of course they do." -- Rosie in response.
"It's the same with the gay thing. I mean come on--I'm adopting kids, I never pretended to have a husband and/or boyfriend. So I didn't understand that people really didn't know." -- Rosie about not realizing what other people were thinking or not thinking.
"All those people across America who didn't want to know colluded with your silence." -- Wieder in response.
"You know there's a quote that says that society will be measured not only by the noise of the bad but by the silence of the good. And only recently did I realize, My silence was complacency. My silence did equal death in some ways. I only know now, having jumped off the bridge, what people are talking about." -- Rosie about seeing perhaps that her not being out really meant 'not being out' to hundreds of thousands of people.
