'I did this play, a thing called Pillar—I can't remember what it was called; I really do want to forget it—but it was kind of cool because I kissed this guy and I was very relieved to find that nothing stirred, man. It was like kissing a brick wall. It was seven weeks of hell, having to kiss this guy every night.' — Actor Dominic Purcell, star of the Fox series John Doe, on CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, March 14.
'No. Unfortunately not.' — Actor Ewan McGregor asked by Out magazine if he ever had sex with a man, in the April issue.
'Gays are gay by the will of God. God does not produce faulty parts. God is not Fiat.' — Roman Catholic Fr. Franco Barbero of Pinerolo, Italy, who was defrocked by Pope John Paul II March 13 for marrying gay couples.
'During my life, I've seen a great diminution of homophobia. ... You can enjoy your personal life, be true to yourself, and still have a successful and useful career in whatever field you choose, from politics to law to medicine or whatever.' — Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to Florida's St. Petersburg Times, March 16.
'Lots of people were never really homophobic in the first place—they just thought they were supposed to be. The true homophobes are now on the run. They know they can't come out and say, 'I wouldn't hire a fag' any more, so they have to resort to lying. They say they oppose anti-discrimination legislation for gays because it gives them 'special rights.' Which is a ridiculous argument. There's nothing special about anti-discrimination legislation, unless you think that's true for Jews or blacks or Catholics, too.' — Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to Florida's St. Petersburg Times, March 16.
'This is the most conservative and ideological president I've ever seen in my lifetime. Both in domestic and foreign policy, he's substituted ideology for thoughtful policy. This is a reckless president. People who believe homosexuality is something that must be punished by God have no business in HIV/AIDS. Only people who understand GLBT issues with a deep commitment to humane values should play a role in AIDS prevention.' — Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean to The Advocate, April 1. The illuminating interview can be read online at advocate.com .
'The Bush Administration is really backsliding on AIDS issues. ... It makes me ill to see the Administration doing things based on religious sentiments rather than scientific facts. ... It's hurting so many people.' — Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean to the AIDS magazine A&U, March issue.
'Leaving New York is like breaking up with a boyfriend you know is bad for you—the bad boy you love to hate. It's a withdrawal.' — Conservative syndicated lesbian columnist Norah Vincent to the Michigan gay newspaper Between The Lines, Feb. 27. She now lives outside of Philadelphia.
'Me and a couple of mates just go trawling around bars and cinemas. I'm currently like, 'Free, single pop star, straight acting, needs wife.'' — Robbie Williams as quoted by London's Pink Paper, March 14.
'I was definitely afraid of losing my straight audience—who maybe decided not to come to shows because they might think it was some lesbian meeting—and that we were coming up with the agenda for the year or something. Well, I don't know what the parade route is this year. I don't ride a motorcycle. I don't have tools. I don't even have a rainbow flag on my house. I am not a good lesbian at all.' — Ellen DeGeneres to the Vancouver Sun, March 19.
'Here's my analysis, from a hetero's point of view: The gay community is a community that likes wit, humor, fast minds—OK, this is my bias, maybe I'm wrong—is easily bored, and is very cynical. And I represent all of them. I'm just like that mentally.' — Syndicated talk-radio host Michael Savage, target of an aggressive campaign by GLAAD due to his alleged homophobia, in an interview with the San Francisco gay newspaper Bay Area Reporter, March 20.
'Why hasn't anybody done a gay-related children's movie? Well, there was that Christmas picture Prancer that sounded promising but it didn't really deliver. Come on, gay people have more children than Catholics these days. Who's gonna exploit their kids? A whole new generation of sexual question marks. We could have Spidermary, Star Wars: Attack of the Castro Street Clones. Both would work.' — Filmmaker John Waters, emceeing the 18th annual Independent Spirit Awards March 22 in Santa Monica, Calif.
'Shock and awe? It sounds like one of my movies.' — Gay filmmaker John Waters at the Independent Spirit Awards March 22.
'Despite the fact that there is Will & Grace, Sex and the City and Queer As Folk on TV, and wonderful pieces of complex representations about gay lives, it doesn't necessarily change those deepest fears that people have about us as gay people.' — Director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) to London's The Pink Paper, March 21.
'I was terribly pretentious as a teenager. I was seeing European art cinema and the Hollywood classics. I was a snot, basically, as many young people can be. And I think I have gotten over some of that.' — Director Todd Haynes to London's The Pink Paper.
'I'm troubled by the fact that a lot of the gay community seems to embrace [Hollywood] gay depictions that come from the straight world. It's tiring to see this vanilla version of homosexuality available to all. You're going to get something invariably different when it's run through the mill. It's drained of its complexity.' — Far From Heaven director Todd Haynes to the San Francisco Chronicle, March 30.
'There aren't five of us, there aren't 10 of us, fucking government, count us right!' — Chant by some of the 1,500 marchers in Mexico City's First Lesbian March, held March 21. ('¡No somos cinco, no somos diez, pinche gobierno, cuéntanos bien!')
