"The soon-to-be-wed lovebirds Monica and Chandler aren't the only Friends who will steam up television screens nationwide as the TV sitcom sashays down the aisle to its May season finale. ... NBC strongly implied that one episode will feature Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston, remembering a lesbian encounter with a former sorority sister played by Winona Ryder." ... Reuters.
"The 'gay neo-con,' wrote gay newspaper editor Jeff Epperly, 'has now become a parody of himself. ( Motto: 'I love gay sex, but hate gay people.' ) ... I will never understand why people still listen to Sullivan. Perhaps it's the British accent. Perhaps it's the Harvard and Oxford lineage ... . There is no depth to which he will not sink to prove his I'm-really-one-of-you credentials to the lying, conniving right wing in this country.'" ... From a Washington Post feature on Andrew Sullivan, April 19.
"He said he would like to [ come out ] one day. And he said if he did come out and it didn't work out, he would like to leave Hollywood and move up the coast and build a house on the beach." ... Marc Christian, Rock Hudson's lover, to the Cable News Network, March 29.
"I can tell you he's not gay. I never believed itso it wasn't something that crossed my mind when I met him. How I'd love to be able to go out and sing from the rooftops: it is not true. I want to prove it to people, but it's impossible to do that." ... Sophie Rhys-Jones, wife of Britain's Prince Edward, to the News of the World, April 1.
"All the other countries have marriages specially made for gay people. What we have in The Netherlands is civil marriage open to everyone. That's the big difference. That is the news." ... Henk Krol, father of the Dutch gay marriage movement, to this column as The Netherlands became the first nation to let gays marry under the same laws as straight people, April 1.
"You have to discuss it over and over again with the politicians and let them think. Discuss it over and over again until they understand there's no reason not to allow it. People are against it not because they think negative about it but because they feel negative in their lower body. That's the only reason they are against it. Once they start to think, they find no reason to be against it." ... Krol.
"The most important thing is that we love each other like everyone loves each other and gets married. There's no difference. The whole world has to learn that love is between people and not only between a man and a woman." ... Groom Peter Wittebrood-Lemke to this column as The Netherlands became the first nation to let gays marry under the same laws as straight people.
"The government considers that the right to marry is a constitutional right and that access to marriage is the only real guarantee that homosexual and heterosexual couples will be treated the same way." ... Belgian Health Minister Magda Alvoet announcing April 2 that Belgium plans to be the second country to let gays marry under the regular marriage laws and that legislation will be introduced.
"I love it when HRC [ the Human Rights Campaign ] calls me up. 'Hi, Ann. Do you know that gays and lesbians can be fired in 36 states for no reason? Will you please give us $100 so we can spend another legislative session fighting for a watered-down nondiscrimination bill that will get killed in the House? Oh, and we also need money to expand our fundraising activities and start our new capital campaign for the headquarters we'll be building on the Rhode Island Avenue lot we just bought. Did I mention we're fighting for hate-crime legislation, along with all the other gay-rights issues that draw approval ratings of 75 percent or higher in national polls. I hope we can count on you!" ... Syndicated San Francisco Bay Times newswriter Ann Rostow, in an April 4 filing.
"Though GLAAD now seems to be taking much of the credit for bringing down [ Dr. Laura ] Schlessinger [ 's TV show ] , dominating most of the articles about the show's end, the majority of thanks and congratulations needs to go to the activists in StopDrLaura.com who weren't paid for their efforts, and who showed us all just how powerful we could be." ... Gay.com columnist Michelangelo Signorile, April 4.
"Unfortunately, it [ my TV show ] never even had a chance for the audience to decide ... because the advertisers were intimidated and threatened by GLAAD and their constituency. ... So, they couldn't get advertisers because they were scared and upset. And so, the stations put me on at two in the morning. ... I was dumped at two in the morning so they could put something in the time to make money." ... Dr. Laura Schlessinger on Larry King Live, Cable News Network.
"This is the beginning, I bet, of Bush's tack to the center, having shored up his conservative base in the last couple of months. It's not the first gay appointee: there are already several in the Bush administration but so far they have all sadly been closet cases. Not Evertz. Come to think of it, I can't recall any openly gay person higher up in the White House hierarchy ever ( and I'm not counting J. Edgar Hoover or Janet Reno ) ." ... Gay writer Andrew Sullivan writing at www.andrewsullivan.com on President George Bush's appointment of Scott Evertz to head the Office of National AIDS Policy, April 9.
"We're not that happy about it. Not even Clinton appointed an openly homosexual person in this position. We've had signs from the beginning that the Bush administration was not going to help us that much in our efforts to stem the tide of homosexual activism." ... Heather Cirmo, spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, on George Bush's appointment of openly gay Scott Evertz to head the Office of National AIDS Policy, to Salon.com, April 10.
"After hard investigative work, we know who you are, how you live and where you work; in fact, all the bullshit you are involved in. [ We ] have resolved to exterminate the human rubbish that you are, so our country will be seen as an example in the world, and we won't have to run into perverted queers. [ Gay ] people will be shot in the ass when they don't expect it. ... Our objective is to exterminate this plague of queers. ... We are well-organized to achieve this social cleansing." ... From a March 23 e-mail to the Ecuadorian gay group Quitogay, according to Amnesty International.