compiled by Howard Israel
"If the service chiefs are really serious about spending the next half a year deliberating whether homosexuals pose a threat to military reputations and readiness, their moral compasses are demagnetized. The armed services are facing a crisis of honor, courage and commitment: a wartime record of graft, sexual assault and dishonesty in the ranks, committed by (presumably) straight service members. … To argue, as some ideologues do, that gays will take the military over a moral or strategic cliff is not only hyperbolic; it's stupid."
– Adam Weinstein, in a column titled "The Military's Problem Isn't Gays," refuting the argument against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" that the U.S. armed forces is a bastion of national virtue, http://motherjones.com, May. 28.
"Lately I've been really annoyed by any liberal person getting married who says they stand for gay rights. How can anyone in good conscience get married right now? How is that different than joining a country club that doesn't allow Jews or blacks?"
– Sarah Silverman, in an interview titled "Sarah Silverman's Wild Mustache Ride," when asked about her public vow not to marry until all Americans can legally wed, http://advocate.com, Feb. 2.
"My final refuge to describe my orientation is the word 'queer,' a word as non-gendered as it is emphatically non-heterosexual. It is a word that implies being unconventional, unconstrained and bent in some unspecified way. It's a word that gay boys, lesbian women and pretty much anyone else who is not straight can share comfortably. It is also a term I resisted for a time. It seemed too politicized and maybe even a bit trendy. And it was far too vague. But, in time, I came to see that its lack of definition is part of its beauty. … Like 'gender queer,' it challenges: ask me if you really want to know more."
– Asher Bauer, from his blog "Beyond Homo And Hetero," http://carnalnation.com, May 28.
"Could we emphasize a point that's lost in this debate – particularly by the liberal media – we don't, we do not tell someone who is homosexual that they can't join the military – we don't tell them that. … (W)e passed the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy because we thought that was the best way to maintain morale and battle effectiveness in the U.S. military. So it's not discriminatory and no one forces anyone to join the military and if they wanna have a sexual orientation we don't keep them from having that orientation."
– Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in a radio interview with Tony Perkins, president, Family Research Council, about the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, http://www.frcblog.com, May 21.
"Intersex people are supposed to lie low and keep quiet. Not me. I'm not defective, I'm not disordered, I'm not ashamed. I just don't fit in your M/F boxes. I'm intersex by birth and honest by choice. I'm an academic and scaler of boundary walls, intersexed, female-reared, legally transitioned to male status, and fond of androgyny."
– Luminis, his profile on his blogspot, about being a person with intersex status, http://intersexroadshow.blogspot.com.
"There's the assumption among gay people that if only this famous person came out, things would be better – and that's never been the case. The most significant effort any of us can make in moving the ball forward in terms of promoting awareness and acceptance of this issue is for those of us who are gay to come out to those closest to us. It isn't ultimately the celebrity that changes people's minds, or the politician. It's the individual, one on one."
– Eric Marcus, writer, in an article titled "Coming Out: When Love Dares Speak, and Nobody Listens," about a growing sense that a celebrity coming out has lost some of its potency, http://www.nytimes.com, May 21.
"Contrary to what people think, being queer ain't for sissies. Being gay has made me a much stronger person than I ever thought I could be. I can't bench press twice my weight or do 50 one-handed push-ups, but I can stand up for myself and for what I believe and know that I'll be OK. I can stand tall as protestors bust through the crowd at Southern Decadence, spewing their hate and spilling our drinks, instead of run and hide. I can love myself in ways I couldn't for the first 33 years of my life. I can show future generations of scared 'mos-in-the making that it is perfectly fine to be whoever you are."
– Gary W. Gregory, in his blog titled "A Hard Pill to Swallow," about a survey of 2,500 gay and bisexual men that revealed if there was a pill to "cure" homosexuality, 74 percent had no desire to alter their sexual preference and 26 percent said that they would the pill, http://www.ourbiggayborhood.com, May 31.
