"I am of the Stonewall generation that helped to construct what appears to be, for better or worse, gay life today in almost all countries of the world. What we were doing was completely experimental and we had no idea that it would remain for so long. We really thought that people would critique it and analyze it and come up with better things." -; Gay author Felice Picano to Genre magazine, August issue.
"A lot of people have complaints about the bar scene and how dominant that is in gay culture—about the consumerism that seems to have swept gay life in the last 10-15 years. Many other people, especially of my age, have complaints against the all-embracing attitude of younger gays and lesbians of what appears to be conservative mainstream styles of living without really analyzing why they're doing it or what it means." -; Felice Picano.
" [ I ] f we persist in ousting the Boy Scouts—if we impose our vigilante justice on them—we are setting a dangerous precedent that will come back to haunt us. When the tide changes and Christian fundamentalism rather than radical equality is in vogue, private gay groups will find themselves in the soup if they refuse to admit Boy Scouts or even neo-Nazis to their ranks." -; Syndicated lesbian columnist Norah Vincent writing in the Providence [ Rhode Island ] Journal, July 22.
"I have been disappointed in almost everything he has done." -; Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on George W. Bush, to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, as reported by AP, July 25.
" [ George ] Bush is ignorant but smart —sort of that dirty tricks kind of smart— the old Republican way." -; Lesbian comedian Kate Clinton to Atlanta's Etcetera magazine, July 20.
"We're on the verge of signing a deal to make Tales of the City into a musical. I can barely say it with a straight face. We've got a diva at the center, a wonderful house and some good stories. We'll see what happens." -; Author Armistead Maupin to Genre magazine, August issue.
"Now I don't have to say it anymore, people do know I'm gay, and I can just get back to what I do. It's all about funny this time." -; Ellen DeGeneres on her upcoming CBS sitcom "The Ellen Show," to the Television Critics Association, July 25.
"Bill Clinton. I'd like to consult him about cigars. I'm still curious how to use them for sexual purposes without destroying them." -; Bel Ami gay porn star Julian Armanis when asked by London's Gay Times, "Who would you most like to meet and why?", in the August issue.
"Some people think I'm ridiculous, some people think I'm very cool. Some people think I'm nothing special, some people think I am special. Some people think I'm stupid, some people think I'm brilliant. Some people think I sell myself cheap, some people think I know my value. Some people think I've made the wrong choices." -; Gay porn Star Aiden Shaw to London's Gay Times, August issue.
"The issue has now become not that there isn't enough gay life on TV, but the quality of the programmes in which we feature. Do we need specifically gay TV any more, given that our presence is now woven intimately into the structure of the TV schedule?" -; Terry Sanderson, media critic for London's Gay Times, August issue.
"That's what one did in the 50s [ kept one's sexuality quiet ] . You didn't have a choice. There was not a public gay discourse in the way there is now. No Queer As Folk. No Village Voice. Nothing to publicly acknowledge that such things existed in any way, shape or form, except in the appendix of some psychological tome." -; Openly gay science-fiction writer Samuel Delany to Genre magazine, August issue.
"It's hard [ being famous ] when you meet people. It's always the old complaint of you don't know why they're interested in you. But the interesting thing is that I dealt with that for years in New Orleans, too, 'cause everyone in the gay community there knew I was Anne Rice's son. Yeah, I have to hone my bullshit detector a little bit." -; Author Christopher Rice to Genre magazine, August issue.
"I don't know how to be a role model for anyone. All I really know how to do right now is come up with stories. I can only hope that those stories, the gay characters in those stories, reflect or lend insight into the identity of gay readers who are reading them, that they can see themselves and see things which they like and they don't like. Then, maybe in that sense, I could be a role model. I've never been a politician. I've never been the type to stand up and tell people how to live. If I do anything most stridently, it's showing in my fiction how I think people shouldn't live." -; Christopher Rice.
"I'm sure it would shock for a quick minute, but people are so over that at this point, I think. But who knows. I've kinda been exposed to Europe and things like that. But in my mind I don't think it would affect anyone's decision to like a band or not. ... Everybody loved Boy George when he came out and he was blatantly out there." -; 'N Sync's J.C. Chasez, asked by Canada's National Post if a member of the pop-music group could be openly gay, July 14.
"I don't see why not. There's honestly nothing wrong with being gay. I have friends that are gay. I think in this day and age it really wouldn't matter. A lot of girls at clubs are like, 'That guy's good looking, too bad he's gay,' but they're still going to like him because he's good looking. So I don't think it matters any more." -; 'N Sync's Joey Fatone, asked by Canada's National Post if a member of the pop-music group could be openly gay, July 14.
"I'm sure they could. There were two really big groups in Europe, Boyzone and Caught In The Act, and they [ had gay members ] in the groups [ who ] came out and it was a surprise to everyone and I was like, 'Who cares?' If one of us were gay, big deal. If one of us is, maybe we're just not talking about it. And that's not saying we are. It's just not something-;we don't go into rehearsals and say, 'That was a really good note you hit, are you gay?'" -; N Sync's Chris Kirkpatrick, asked by Canada's National Post if a member of the pop-music group could be openly gay, July 14.
"Oh yeah. Definitely. I don't think it would hurt at all. Actually, I think it would [ make the fan base ] bigger. You'll have a bigger market. The whole gay market." -; 'N Sync's Lance Bass, asked by Canada's National Post if a member of the pop-music group could be openly gay, July 14.
