Compiled by Howard Israel
"Now I see it clearly why the people of color LGBTs have thrown in the towel and say, 'Fuck it, I quit the movement.' Now I see why the disenfranchised don't become more involved in the LGBT movement's fight for our civil rights. We're frustrated with being shut out, discredited and slandered when we attempt to speak up and represent the interest of the people of color LGBT community. Now I see that it's fruitless because they just don't understand that their white privilege has prevented them from having empathy or compassion concerning discrimination the people of color LGBTs have endured even within the LGBT community. They honestly believe that they understand the pain of discrimination that the people of color endures as a result of the color of their skin because they have suffered the same discrimination as a result of their sexual orientation. They've ignored completely the plight of their people of color counterparts that are experiencing a double-whammy concerning their oppression within the LGBT community because of the color of their skin. It's outrageous for them to simply say, 'Well, we're all fighting the same fight and you people should just understand that it's for your own good too.' It's typical for whites to say, 'You have a chip on your shoulder,' or 'You're bitter and unprofessional' when we challenge the status quo. That's what happens to us marginalized and oppressed minorities, especially within the LGBT community: We resort to shouting in order to get through to the thick skulls of the white gay LGBT population."
– Nakhone Keodara, in a column titled "The Whites Can Have LGBT Activism. I Quit!," http://www.queerty.com, Oct. 2.
"I knew every feeling she was going through in revealing something so intimate about herself. Needing acceptance so badly, the urge to finally reveal all and unburden the soul of its secrets. The apprehension and certainty that sit together side by side in your heart. How can I as a gay man ever deny her my complete acceptance and love? … I can't, I won't. I fully support her knowing what it means to have that inner sense that there is a true self inside of you that you need to express. To do anything else is like living in the land of the shadow of death … a world of grays with little joy. Coming out and loving a man for the first time for me was like that moment in 'The Wizard of Oz' when everything is in color for the first time. It was like my first breath."
– Posted by Bryan, in a blog titled "Transgendered Musings…," about his good friend's coming out as transgendered, http://gayfamilyvalues.blogspot.com, Sept. 14.
"I am convinced that today one's private life is no longer an obstacle. Some other countries may have had a problem with the fact that Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor of Germany. Of course she does not wear a veil on the red carpet when she visits certain Arab states. The American secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, must also hold talks in countries in which women are systematically oppressed. The decision as to who we send as a government representative rests solely with us Germans based on our political and moral standards."
– Guido Westerwelle, Germany and Europe's first openly gay foreign minister, dismissing concerns about a clash between diplomacy and his sexuality and the possible exploitation of his sexuality as an example of "Western decadence" in the Middle East and Asia where homosexuality is widely viewed as an abomination, http://www.thelocal.de, Sept. 30.
"It is promising to see not only an increase in the quantity of LGBT television characters but that storylines about the LGBT community are becoming more reflective of current issues impacting our lives. Americans now see LGBT couples marrying, raising families and contributing to their communities. As more and more Americans see these fair and accurate images of our community reflected on the small screen, they come to accept and better understand their LGBT family members and neighbors."
– Jarrett Barrios, President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, in a press release about GLAAD's 14th annual "Where We Are On TV" study, a comprehensive review of scripted LGBT primetime characters in the 2009-2010 television season, http://www.glaad.org, Sept. 30. The report shows that 18 LGBT characters will account for 3 percent of scripted series regulars in the 2009-2010 broadcast television schedule, up from 2.6 percent in 2008.
"Although opposition by some in the House already has been announced, I believe Congress will and should defeat opposition to gay marriage rights in the District of Columbia as enacted by the District's own elected officials. Opposition to civil rights is not new. We should approach the rights of gay couples and families with the same resolution and results as we had for others who have sought their human rights in Congress and in the District."
– Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), in a statement about the same-sex marriage bill, the "Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009," Oct. 1.
"When I first realized I was gay. I just assumed I would hide it and be miserable for the rest of my life. But then I said, 'OK, wait, I don't want to hide this and be miserable my whole life.' " (Asked him how old he was when he made that decision..) "Eleven."
– Austin, a 13-year-old gay middle school student from Sand Springs, Oklahoma, in an article titled "Coming Out in Middle School," http://www.nytimes.com, Sept. 27.
