'Most conservatives are conservative in theory but operationally progressive if they know and understand what the issue is and they don't feel like it's a threat to their values. ... I think we ought to have conversations, not screaming matches on radio and television talk shows, but real conversations about why the Brady Bill is not a threat to the right of people to go hunting, about why being pro-choice is not the same thing as thinking there ought to be more abortions in America, about why being for basic civil rights for gay people is in the best American tradition and doesn't have anything to do with somebody's religious or personal convictions. ... When people are talking and listening and thinking, we win. I think we ought to reach out and have a genuine organized, disciplined dialogue.' — Bill Clinton addressing the Democratic Leadership Council at New York University, Dec. 3.
'NO LOITERING IN SEAGRAPES.' — A new twist in the genre of police signs posted in gay cruising areas to discourage men from having sex amid the vegetation, seen at Miami's Haulover Beach Park nude beach, Dec. 10. Seagrapes are trees.
'The Texas 'sodomy' law banning homosexual intercourse not only confirms to the rest of the civilized world our own well-worn image as goat-roping Neanderthals, it also likely violates the right to privacy and equal protection.' — Columnist Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje in the daily San Antonio Express-News, Dec. 10.
'I don't hate you. I just think that you're being a pervert ... God is angry with your kind of moral behavior.' — The Rev. Jerry Falwell to U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., Dec. 2 on CNN.
'The picture of same-sex couples hugging and kissing on the street should become normal.' — Swiss Justice Minister Ruth Metzler unveiling the government's proposal for gay civil unions, Nov. 29.
'As one who has never really been in the closet, it doesn't seem like a big event to come out. It's the first time I ever spoke to media about it, but it certainly wasn't a secret. ... I'm a conservative, entrepreneur, investment-banking politician from rural Nova Scotia who drives a Volvo station wagon and has two Nova Scotia duck-tolling retrievers; it's pretty hard to peg me as a radical.' — Canadian Member of Parliament Scott Brison, Dec. 7. Canada has three other openly gay federal MPs, Svend Robinson, Réal Ménard and Libby Davies.
'For religious reasons, I no longer have sex with men and don't plan to. ... Homosexuality is a choice.' — David Bianco, founder of the gay-press syndication service Q Syndicate, in his 'Over The Rainbow' column, Dec. 16.
'Where I live, premium channels like Showtime and HBO run $12.95 a month each, in addition to the already hefty price of basic cable—not to mention the cost of upgrading to digital, the wave of the future. Although Showtime and MTV officials are billing Outlet as a channel for 'the broad diversity' of the LGBT community, it will really just reach the segment that doesn't have to think twice about the cost of home entertainment. That's not me—and, according to economists like Lee Badgett, whose research is helping debunk the 'gays are rich' stereotype, it may not be many of my readers, either.' — Q Syndicate columnist Paula Martinac, Dec. 16.
'Typically consumers in that market tend to have high disposable income and they tend to have a higher tendency toward luxury brands in general ... Jaguar is a very natural fit.' — Simon Sproule, chief spokesman for Jaguar cars, announcing the company's new ad campaign aimed at gays, Dec. 17.
'I've always been bisexual all my life. I don't think whether somebody is, in a sense, male or female. My brain doesn't compute that.' — Singer Nona Hendryx, who was a member of the '70s group LaBelle, to Chicago's BLACKlines, December issue. For the complete Hendryx interview, see www.WindyCityTimes.com and look for the December BLACKlines.
'I've learned a lot from my drag queen fans! They have hooked me up, they have helped me in makeup. My fashion, they showed me how to talk. ... They helped me out a lot, they don't even realize it.' — Singer Toni Braxton to San Diego's Buzz Magazine, Dec. 12.
'I have 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 liked 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 on Will & Grace, to Out magazine, January issue.
'If I was gay, that wouldn't be a big deal, so why would I hide it?' — 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake to The Advocate, Dec. 24.
'Fellas, I know you're awfully fond of your pee-pees, but they're not very pretty. If I saw one crawling on my kitchen floor, I'd call an exterminator.' — Columnist Jennifer Parello in the Chicago gay publication Nightspots, Dec. 18.
'There's someone waiting for me in Spain—I think. It's wonderful to be in love, and it's also necessary. Just to feel that you are important to someone else's life, which has nothing to do with filmmaking or money or anything else. When I arrive in a hotel, no matter which one in which city, I always feel very alone. And it's the same when I return home to Madrid with all my suitcases. At times like that, it's miraculous to have someone to call who isn't your brother.' — Openly gay director, Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother) talking about his boyfriend to The Advocate, Dec. 24. His new film, Talk To Her, is now in theaters and getting raves.
