compiled by Howard Israel
"I extend an open invitation to Mr. Setoodeh to come to the writers room of our show, and perhaps pay a set visit. Hopefully then he can see how we take care to do a show about inclusiveness … a show that encourages all viewers, no matter what their sexual orientation, to go after their hopes and dreams and not be pigeonholed by dated and harmful rhetoric … rhetoric he sadly spews and believes in."
– "Glee" co-creator Ryan Murphy, in an open letter to Newsweek about an article by Ramin Setoodeh titled "Straight Jacket: Heterosexual actors play gay all the time. Why doesn't it ever work in reverse?," http://www.ew.com, May 11.
"I've been thinking a lot about older gay men because I'm almost 75. I've suddenly started being horny again! My partner and I have known each other since the late 1960s. This is our second time together. Seventeen years this time. He gave me permission to explore, but what does a 75 year old do when he wants to crawl in bed with a hot young body? I think this is the biggest unwritten thing and there must be an awful lot of older men like me who are hungry for another sexual chapter before they die. I don't think we talk about it enough."
– Larry Kramer, in an interview titled "The Fresh Bile and Sex Life of Larry Kramer," about the legendary author's life and longevity, http://www.southfloridagaynews.com, May 2.
"The beauty of this document is that the guidelines can be used by any type of counselor, including health, mental health, career and school counselors. The competencies do not have to be deliberately pointed at or confined to transgender issues (such as transitioning itself) but should also serve as a foundation for respectfully addressing whatever it is the trans client (aka consumer) is grappling with, such as stress, weight loss, career changes, grieving, health issues, and so on."
– Dr. Amy Marsh, in her column titled "Step Up Your Game," about the need for health and medical service providers and professionals to be much better educated about transgender issues, http://carnalnation.com, May 12.
"The new study … outlines word-action connections (that) clearly show how the 'ex-gay' movement fits several of the United Nations' definitions of genocide, and they do this using the ex-gay leadership's own words and literature. Over a dozen psychological, educational and medical organizations have denounced reparative therapy on the basis that, not only is it ineffective, but it can cause harm to the participants. … Ex-gay leaders socially distance themselves from their victims by defining homosexuality as behaviors, attractions, identities, or more insidiously, as a sinful 'lifestyle,' a mental illness, or a menacing social 'agenda,' thus denying the personhood, indeed the existence, and the victimization of gay and lesbian people. … This sobering, thorough and outstanding research is going to shine a very conspicuous magnifying glass on the ex-gay movement like never before."
– Jallen Rix, in a commentary titled "Ex-Gay" Movement = Genocide?," about an article titled 'Genocidal Intentions: Social Death and the Ex-Gay Movement' by authors Sue Spivey and Christine Robinson, in the journal "Genocide Studies and Prevention," http://www.advocate.com, May 6.
"Put yourself in the shoes of the teenager, bewildered and frightened by these feelings he or she is not 'supposed' to have, feelings of sexual attraction to people of the same gender. You try to deny them, try to ignore them, try to suppress them, but they will not go away. You are all alone, isolated behind a secret that presses down on you like weights, a fear of rejection that haunts you like ghosts. And here comes Dr. Rekers telling you you are abnormal, telling you you are bad, telling you he can cure you, as if you had a disease like measles or the flu."
– Leonard Pitts Jr., in his column titled "A message to anti-gay psychologist George Rekers: Heal thyself," http://www.miamiherald.com, May 12.
"The White House declared publicly, even before President Obama nominated Elena Kagan, that she is not a lesbian. 'False charges,' White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said after a conservative blogger wrote last month on a CBS News Web site that Kagan would be the 'first openly gay justice.' LaBolt's description of the rumor as 'charges' was itself awkward, coming from a pro-gay-rights Democratic administration. His statement almost begged for a Seinfeld-esque 'not-that-there's-anything-wrong-with-that' qualifier."
– Karen Tumulty, in an article titled "Is sexual identity our business, or are we a nation of busybodies?," http://www.washingtonpost.com, May 14.
"Throughout history, softball has been a focal point for lesbian women, so, in a sense, there's a kernel of truth in the stereotype. It's an issue of women being physically competent, physically strong and doing things with other women. Softball is largely identified as a woman's game, especially at the high school and college level, and lesbians have always gravitated to it."
– Pat Griffin, author of "Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sport."
