"Ally McBeal star Portia de Rossi is having a lesbian affair with former Beatle Ringo Starr's stepdaughter. ... The Australian-born actress and singer Francesca Gregorini, daughter of Starr's wife Barbara Bach, were spotted kissing passionately in a Hollywood restaurant." ... The Australian Associated Press, Nov. 4.
" [ Olivia Newton-John ] thinks the mistaken idea that she is a lesbian was born in the 1970s, when she sang her hit song, 'I Honestly Love You,' on The Tonight Show on U.S. television. When the show's legendary host, Johnny Carson, asked her if she had more girlfriends or boyfriends, she answered 'girlfriends' ( meaning 'female friends,' not 'lovers,' she says ) ...eliciting a raised eyebrow from Carson. 'The rumour kept coming back to me, and I kept wondering, "Why are they saying this about me?" That's the only thing that we could ever put our fingers on. As if anyone would ever say anything like that on The Tonight Show! Let alone me, for crying out loud!'" ... The British national lesbian magazine Diva, August issue.
"I refuse to be terrorized. I mean, let's get real, shall we? As a gay man I've dealt with the fear of a deadly virus for as long as I can remember. Asking me to freak out over anthrax is like telling me to never mind HIV, it's anthrax and it's terrorism! As soon as I realized anthrax had an antibody I pretty much dismissed it as a flu bug. Some people die from the flu." ... Columnist Paulo Murillo in the Los Angeles gay newspaper fab!, Nov. 23.
" [ Terrorists ] can't take away our creativity, our striving for excellence, our joy. Only network executives can do that." ... Ellen DeGeneres at the Emmy awards. Her new sitcom has been renewed for the second half of the season.
"The Salvation Army has not changed its position on marriage and the family, homosexuality or other position statements, nor have we changed any of our basic doctrines or moral positions. In rescinding the policy and establishing a national policy on health care benefit access to spouses and dependent children only, we must stand united in the battle that will undoubtedly follow from those who would now challenge our biblical and traditional position." ... Salvation Army national Commissioner Lawrence Moretz announcing on Nov. 12 that the charity had repealed a decision by its Western division to offer health benefits to employees' domestic partners.
"This year's version of the annual [ NGLTF ] homosexual grassroots conference 'Creating Change' features such workshops as 'Drag 101' for youth; sadomasochism ( S&M ) advocacy under the guise of 'sexual freedom'; a 'polyamory' ( multiple sex partners ) workshop; and a discussion led by an S&M activist that will include a look at laws regulating 'intergenerational sex' ( pedophilia ) ." ... Scandalized Concerned Women for America, Nov. 10.
"Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention and Control Services in San Francisco, has suggested a number of measures, some coercive, which he thinks would slow the increase of new HIV infections among gay men. Among them: closing sex clubs and adult bookstores; enforcing no-sex ordinances in bars and clubs; enforcing no-drug policies in bars and clubs; and Internet-based outreach and education, particularly in chat rooms where many gay men meet new sexual partners. Putting aside political realities when brainstorming on this subject, Klausner also raised the possibility of quarantining those who cannot control their infectivity...e.g., those barebackers who've infected 20 different people and still refuse to use condoms." ... Washington Monthly magazine, November.
"I actually knew about his homosexuality when I was in the Uniformed Firefighters Association. I kept the secret, but then he told me when I became commissioner five years ago. He and I often laughed about it, because we knew how difficult it would have been for the other firefighters to accept it as easily as I had." ... New York Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen on Sept. 11th hero Fr. Mychal Judge, to New York Magazine, Nov. 12.
"I felt like I won the lottery for a second...without the money." ... Out dyke Jennifer Jay after being selected homecoming queen at Sweetwater High School in National City, Calif., Nov. 2, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. National City is a blue-collar town just south of San Diego.
"Yoko Ono, ferocious keeper of the John Lennon flame, is said to be furious about a book proposal currently doing the rounds of publishers in London and New York. The outline, written by the sister of 'Lost Beatle' Stuart Sutcliffe, claims Lennon had a gay affair with the young man and, in a drunken brawl, kicked him in the head and killed him." ... The New York Post, Nov. 2.
"World Trade Center terrorist Mohamed Atta and several of his bloody henchmen led secret gay lives for years... and Atta's 'boyfriend' died with him in his September 11 suicide mission, reveal intelligence sources in Germany and the U.S." ... The National Enquirer, Nov. 6.
"I'm 100% gay and about 20% in gay society. Sometimes I'm more comfortable in punk rock clubs than gay clubs. There are just as many rules I rebel from in the gay world as the straight one. I'm gaily incorrect, but I do vote gay." ... Filmmaker John Waters to Out magazine, December issue.
"I'll always be glad I was offered it [ my knighthood ] after I'd come out, and Maggie knew she was giving it to an openly gay man, not a species she is renowned for favoring." ... Actor Sir Ian McKellen to ananova.com, Nov. 20.
"In the last few years, the turkey baster has become more popular than Xena, Warrior Princess among the lesbian elite." ... The New York Post, Nov. 21.
"The far gay left is one of the most virulent hate-groups in the country. Tolerated by much of the gay media and beyond, their hate-filled and near-violent tactics are often ignored or tolerated by other gay men and women and liberal straights who should know better." ... Gay writer Andrew Sullivan on his Web site Nov. 26, in reference to www.usqueers.com, which contains a list of vociferiously anti-gay public figures that the site says it wishes would die. The full URL is www.usqueers.com/commentary/die_soon.html . The site has now taken down that portion.
