Compiled by Howard Israel
S/he Said
"We have homophobes on our party. That's disgusting to me. We're all human beings. We're all God's children. Now if they're going to get off on that stuff Rick Santorum has said some cruel things – cruel, cruel things about homosexuals. Ask him about it; see if he attributes the cruelness of his remarks years ago. Foul. Now if that's the kind of guys that are going to be on my ticket … I'm not sticking with people who are homophobic, anti-women, moral values – while you're diddling your secretary while you're giving a speech on moral values? Come on, get off of it."
– Senator Alan Simpson, R-WY, in an interview on MSNBC about social conservatives in the Republican party, http://www.thinkprogress.org, April 11.
"This category is for individuals whose sexual interests are directed primarily toward people of the same sex and who are either disturbed by, in conflict with, or wish to change their sexual orientation. This diagnostic category is distinguished from homosexuality, which by itself does not constitute a psychiatric disorder. Homosexuality per se is one form of sexual behavior and, like other forms of sexual behavior which are not by themselves psychiatric disorders, is not listed in this nomenclature of mental disorders."
– The American Psychiatric Association statement titled "Homosexuality and Sexual Orientation Disturbance," declaring that homosexuality was not a mental illness in 1973, quoted in the obituary of Dr. Alfred M. Freedman, a psychiatrist who led the APA to destigmatize homosexuality, http://www.nytimes.com, April 20. Dr. Friedman died at age 94.
"I feel that Gauguin is evil. He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it's very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you."
– A deranged visitor to the police, after attacking a painting by Paul Gauguin titled "Two Tahitian Women" at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.; http://www.washingtonpost.com, April 4. The painting sustained no damage.
"I am tired of people having this debate about the relative impact of pejorative words on their target minority group. If injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then the relative power of an antigay slur is irrelevant, it is simply a threat to human dignity, and that should appall us all."
– John Amaechi, in his column titled "A Gay Former NBA Player Responds to Kobe Bryant," about LA Lakers guard Kobe Bryant using an antigay slur at a referee on camera during a game, http://www.offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com, April 15.
