'I WAS bitter, very bitter, for a time. I saw myself as a victim; I looked at heterosexual sitcoms full of sexual innuendo and bed-hopping, which mine certainly did not have. But then, not only did I realize that we are actually blessed by our mistakes—and I did make mistakes—but bitterness doesn't get you anywhere. The world has moved on. The people you're angry with? They've moved on. I came to value the huge compensation of my 'trouble'—that it had helped kids, gay kids, in crisis. So I lost a sitcom. That's so petty in return for what I was able to give, though I never intended to become a role model.' — Ellen DeGeneres to columnist Liz Smith. DeGeneres said she finds Will & Grace witty, but she has never seen Queer As Folk.
'[Celebrity photographer Herb] Ritts had in fact been HIV-positive for years. His immune system had been sufficiently weakened; HIV infection had left him unable to fight off the pneumonia. In other words, Herb Ritts' death was an AIDS fatality.' — Outing inventor Michelangelo Signorile.
'You look like a fag. You dress like a fag. You are a fag.' — Hotel queen Leona Helmsley to former Park Lane Hotel manager Charles Bell before she fired him in February 2001, according to Bell's testimony in his gay discrimination case, Jan. 14. Helmsley denies making the statements. She lost the case—and the jury gave Bell $11.2 million, believed to be the largest financial victory in an anti-gay bias case.
'I never thought in my life that I would ever be involved in politics. ... It is not my career goal in life to have become what I am now. It just happened, and I like when life is like that. That is what makes it stunning and exciting.' — Transsexual New Zealand Member of Parliament Georgina Beyer to the St. Louis gay publication EXP, Jan. 17.
'I have no respect for the man, very little respect except for the fact that he is the president. You people have got to get rid of him.' — Beyer.
'The spotlight has been annoying. ... I am not fazed about fame and stuff like that, in fact I find it a real sort of intrusion sometimes. It interferes sometimes with my work. You have to maintain a certain level of behavior, you can't just be nasty to people, you can't just mouth off at someone. ... I see value at having notoriety ... as far as being helpful in certain circumstances, particularly if I am dealing with politicians from other countries. Many of them have heard about me. Many of them are quite intrigued to meet me, and a number of those sorts of people are from countries where they commit heinous acts upon people like you and I.' — Beyer.
'Per The Times' policy against Orwellian abuse of the English language, the euphemism 'gay' is not used to describe the homosexual lifestyle. ... Because the Washington Times uses only sturdy English, this paper avoids using what Mencken described as 'greasy, meaningless words.' Thus, the word gay—which, according to the OED, has meant mirthful since Middle English —is not used as a euphemistic synonym for homosexuals or homosexuality, except in quote marks.' — Washington Times letters editor Matthew Rarey, as quoted by D.C.'s Metro Weekly, Jan. 16. The Times repeatedly replaced 'gay' with 'homosexual' in a recent letter from local activist Rick Rosendall.
'We're talking about a very affluent group. They tend more often than not to not have children, and to have a very high annual income, and they love to travel.' — Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokesman Rob Powers on gays, to the Las Vegas Mercury, Jan. 16.
'I have no intention of giving up my leathers. It's not a look. This isn't fashion. Leather is an act of being.' — Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend attendee Dave Iverson of New York to a reporter for 365Gay.com . MAL was picketed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Jan. 19.
'Christ can rescue the homosexual. ... Be compassionate to those caught up in this sinful deathstyle. Only when homosexuals know it is a sin can they repent.' — Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS appointee Jerry Thacker, according to quotes dug up by the Washington Post Jan. 23. The Post said anti-gay content was removed from Thacker's Web site 'after word of his selection spread among gays.' After the Post's story appeared, Thacker announced he would not accept the appointment.
'There is cordiality from everyone. However, as soon as debate begins on the floor of the Assembly that involves anything to do with our community I think [new gay California legislators] Mark [Leno] and John [Laird] will find what the rest of us [lesbian Assemblymembers] have found, which is members who are homophobic will feel no compunction in speaking about it. Occasionally they will say, 'Nothing personal, Sheila' or, I assume, 'Nothing personal, Mark, John, Jackie [Goldberg] and Christine [Kehoe], but you are spawn of the devil and that's all there is to it.'' — Lesbian California Sen. Sheila James Kuehl to the Associated Press, Jan. 24.
'It's time for ... AIDS groups to start telling gay men the truth. Taking stupid sexual risks—even if risk turns you on—is reckless; anal sex on the first date—even with condoms—is a bad idea; giving someone HIV —even if he wants it—is immoral; being a huge fucking slut—as popular as that might make you—has physical and emotional consequences. Gay men need to be told that stupid decisions don't deserve anyone's respect.' — Syndicated gay advice columnist Dan Savage, Jan. 28.
'When the Advocate starts putting Justin Timberlake on the cover and justifies it with a weak-kneed tag line about the 'Ten Coolest Straights,' you know the movement has lost its raison d'etre. It may not be the 'end of gay' but we're getting pretty damn close.' — Columnist Brent Ledger in Toronto's Xtra!
'[They have a] pathological personality situation ... a serious and irreversible pathology.' — The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on transsexuals, as reported by Reuters, Jan. 31.
'A gay show for gay people with no taste.' — Columnist Liz Smith summing up how she believes people perceive Showtime's Queer As Folk, in the New York Post, Jan. 31.
