"He's such a beautiful guy. Who wouldn't want to make love with him?" -; Actor Javier Bardem on his love scenes with Johnny Depp in the new film Before Night Falls, as quoted in the Boston Globe, Jan. 31.
"I think the consolidation of gay media into one huge blob is deeply disturbing. There's also a chilling liberal monopoly at PlanetOut. ... You can find virtually no independent or conservative voices in the mix-;just the usual chorus of leftist whining and Democratic Party apologists." — Gay journalist Andrew Sullivan to the San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 1. The "blob" includes ( or soon will include ) PlanetOut, Gay.com, Out magazine, The Advocate, Out & About and Alyson Publications.
"George Bush's arrival in the White House represents a sea change for gay Americans, but you wouldn't know it from reading the national press or watching any of the Sunday morning chat shows. Practically unmentioned in all the recent look-backs at the departed administration is the fact that one of Bill Clinton's largest legacies will surely be his legitimization of the role of gay people in American politics. He appointed more than 150 openly gay federal officials, including assistants to the president and an assistant attorney general, signed executive orders banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and appointed the first gay liaison in the White House." -; Charles Kaiser writing in the Washington Post, Jan. 24.
"The most significant social change in the United States during the Clinton presidency was the social mainstreaming of gay Americans and the ebbing of anti-gay prejudice." -; Author Bruce Bawer writing in The New York Times, Jan. 26.
"I get all kinds of e-mails telling me I'm working with the Nazis. But we're optimistic that President Bush will keep a dialogue going with the community." -; Kevin Ivers of the Log Cabin Republicans to The New York Times, Jan. 26.
"Did everyone see Ricky Martin dancing with George W. Bush in front of the Lincoln memorial last week? I felt the same shame watching Ricky dance with W. that African Americans felt watching Ben Vereen tap dance for Ronald Reagan. Ricky Martin denies he's gay, of course, but come on. Ricky hasn't been arrested in a men's room with a cock in his mouth, but it's gonna happen sooner or later. ( And when it does, gay magazines will slap Ricky's picture on their covers and declare Ricky a hero in the struggle for gay rights. ) The full reality of the new Bush era didn't hit me until I sat watching that closet case shake his bon-bon with the worst thing that's happened to this country since, well, ever. It's gonna be a long, ugly four years, kids." -; Columnist Dan Savage in Seattle's The Stranger, Jan. 25.
"I am telling you, you're gonna blink and you'll be 80 and alone in a caftan with a lap full of catnip saying, 'Here kitty kitty kitty.' It's time to put the sex back in homosexual, Will." -; Jack to Will on TV's Will & Grace, Feb. 1.
"It was my publicist, Stan, and he didn't dress well." -; Actor George Clooney when asked by reporters at the Golden Globe awards who his date was for the evening.
"I hope no young gay man somewhere out there watches the show [ Showtime's Queer As Folk ] , packs his U-Haul, and moves to Pittsburgh, thinking he's going to a gay mecca. That would be kind of sad for him." -; Pittsburgh advertising executive Robert Handley to USA Today, Jan. 25.
"'Queer as Folk' might not seem so bad if the work in every department-;producing, directing, writing, acting, photography, music, editing, costume-;were not so lamentable. To those who believe, and there are those who honestly do believe, that one gay TV series is better than no gay TV series, I suggest that poor quality never helped any cause: the inevitable failure is taken as the failure of subject matter. Fortunately, a look at the original British series refutes this vividly. The milieu is still the gay disco/bar world, but the characters are developing characters and much time is spent with their families and co-workers in a predominantly straight world. Equally important is the brilliance in every department: acting, writing, direction, etc. No wonder the series was such a success on mainstream British television." -; Letter to the editor of The New York Times from playwright and screenwriter Arthur Laurents, Jan. 28.
" [ They are ] nasty, spiteful, heartless queens. I hope they never make another series. It displays such a one-sided view." -; Boy George on Queer As Folk to Britain's Radio Times, Jan. 30.
"The new Queer As Folk, I think, is absolutely awful. I mean, it's just beyond. It completely marginalizes gay men, and it's every cliche under the sun jammed into, like, one sexfest. It's pretty stinky." -; Actress and comedian Sandra Bernhard to TVGuide.com, Dec. 27.
"If your state does not recognize the Vermont civil union law, its courts won't have the power to dissolve your union [ if you entered into one in Vermont ] . And you cannot have your union dissolved in Vermont unless you or your partner has been a resident of Vermont for at least six months." -; Atlanta's Southern Voice newspaper pointing out a glitch in the Vermont gay civil-unions law, Jan. 11. Many gay couples from outside Vermont have gotten hitched in Vermont.
" [ Paul ] Cameron is to the social sciences what Fred Phelps is to organized religion. His 'research' proves bizarre hypotheses like, I don't know, gay men are three times more likely to poison municipal tap water. I do remember one time when he calculated that lesbians have an average life span in the mid-forties, but I forget his rationale. Too many potluck dinners, I guess." -; San Francisco Bay Times newswriter Ann Rostow in the Jan. 25 issue.
"Recently a lot was made out of Merv Griffin giving $10 million to a charity, as well as Rosie O'Donnell and Richard Simmons giving huge contributions to their favorite charities. Well, while I agree that such acts are commendable, these closet cases should help their own community and brothers and sisters by giving to GLBT organizations, centers and youth causes that are in need. They could do it anonymously — but no matter what the way, they should do it, especially for hate-crime concerns and suicide prevention and runaway organizations for GLBT youth. I am sick of these well-known closet cases helping everyone but their own brothers and sisters." -; San Diego Gay & Lesbian Times columnist Nicole Murray Ramirez, Feb. 1.
