compiled by Howard Israel
"Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals who self-identified to exit pollsters made up 3 percent of those casting ballots in House races on Tuesday, and 31 percent of them voted Republican. By itself, that number is amazing, especially when you consider that way too many people think being gay and voting Democratic are one in the same. But that percentage is ominous news for a White House viewed with suspicion by many gay men and lesbians, because that's four percentage points higher than the change election of 2008."
Jonathan Capehart, in his column titled "GOP: Gay Old Party? More gays voted Republican than in 2008," http://voices.washingtonpost.com, Nov. 4.
"We are here for a peaceful protest. The church oppresses us and doesn't respect us…We can't tolerate this sort of Pope in the 21st century."
Eduardo Prado, one of the 200-300 participants in a public kiss-in, organized by a Facebook group called Queer Kissing Flashmob, protesting Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Spain and the Catholic church's policies about gay people, http://www.nydailynews.com, Nov. 7.
"I want to open up people's eyes to what being trans is. I just want other people to not feel that discomfort I felt in being someone I'm not. God didn't make a mistake. I was meant to be like this for a reason. Clearly my life is going to be different from anyone who was born a biological male, because of what I've been through. And I was meant to go through all of this."
Kye Allums, first publicly transgender NCAA's first Div. 1 basketball player, will compete on George Washington University's women's basketball team because he has not undergone hormone treatments, starting conversations never before held in the sport, http://www.outsports.com, Nov. 1.
"She stood up and said, 'This is who I am.' When someone does that, it changes the world. It gives hope."
Melissa Etheridge, singer, about Constance McMillen, as a high school senior, fought her school district's decision to prohibit her from bringing her girlfriend to the prom, named Glamour magazine's 2010 Woman of the Year for her fight against intolerance, http://www.glamour.com, Nov.1.
"Black parents were less likely than their white counterparts to report that they mourned the loss of a normal life for their children when they initially learned they were gay. Considering the elevated risk for poverty, illness, and incarceration faced by blacks, such a 'normal' life was perhaps less a sure thing all along… Black parents might be more concerned with issues of survival – such as avoiding jail, poverty, and violence. Parents of black gay and lesbian youth knew that their children would be facing a double stigma – one related to race and the other to sexual orientation, and understandably, this worried them."
Michael C. LaSala, in his column titled "African American Gay Youth and Their Parents: Coping with Double Stigma," about a study describing the experiences of white and black families and their responses to a gay son or lesbian daughter, http://www.psychologytoday.com, Oct. 21.
