compiled by Howard Israel
S/he Said
"Right-wing anti-gay… social conservatives can't think 'gay' without thinking 'sex.' Never mind that they, themselves, routinely have sex as an expression of love or harmless desire (not to mention trampling their marriage vows while espousing pristine family values). For social conservatives, gay people are a stand-in for all the messy, guilt-inducing impulses that they, themselves, can't handle. This surely says more about them than it does about gay people, but their confusion wreaks havoc with the lives of millions. Having exactly the same freedom as everybody else to express your love or desire sexually does not 'sexualize' things any more than allowing the straight world not to be monks sexualizes things. Reducing gay intimacy to sex, wrote a Republican appointee, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, 'demeans' the claims of freedom for gay people 'just as it would demean a married couple were it said that marriage is just about the right to have sexual intercourse.'"
-Nathaniel Frank, author and research consultant the University of California's Palm Center and the Movement Advancement Project, in his blog titled "What Part of 'Equality' Doesn't the Right Wing Understand?," http://www.huffingtonpost.com, Oct. 07.
"There's a legitimate debate to be had about the risks of over-sensationalizing stories about bullying-related suicide in the media. Nevertheless, it's clear that Fox's approach – ignoring real bullying stories while attacking anti-bullying efforts – is aimed at making the problem of anti-LGBT bullying seem exaggerated and trivial. This kind of one-sided reporting plays directly into the hands of anti-gay groups, which work tirelessly to stand in the way of creating safe environments for LGBT students. Fox News has demonstrated its willingness to abandon its 'fair and balanced' slogan in order to toe the far-right line. This time, it's some of the most vulnerable people who will likely suffer as a result."
-From an analysis titled "Report: Fox News Downplays Stories About Anti-LGBT Bullying, Suicide," compiled by Equality Matters, pointing out that both CNN and MSNBC have made efforts to cover the growing problem of anti-LGBT bullying, Fox News has consistently railed against efforts to reduce anti-LGBT bullying and does not report on bullying-related suicide, instead, portrays anti-gay groups and individuals as victims of alleged intimidation and bullying by gays and lesbians, http://equalitymatters.org/blog, Oct. 31.
"Latino men feel betrayed by sons who don't live up to the expectations that society and the family have for them. It's a challenge – not only to my character but to an audience – to say people are what they are and not ready to be put in some category."
-Esai Morales, actor, in a review titled "Defying the Macho Culture," about his character in the movie "Gun Hill Road," in which he plays a convict who, after three years in jail, returns to his Bronx home to find his wife distant and his teenage son is gay, performs in a local club as a woman, and is transitioning into a woman http://www.aarp.org, Summer 2011.
"Same-sex marriage is a pro-family measure."
-Douglas Gansler, Maryland Attorney General, a staunch gay-rights supporter, in an article titled "Report details inequities for kids of gay parents," about a new report compiled by an alliance of advocacy and child-welfare groups, titled "All Children Matter – How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families," summarizing how laws and social stigma create distinctive challenges for LGBT families, Associated Press, http://hosted.ap.org, Oct. 25. Maryland lawmakers will be considering a bill to legalize same-sex marriage next year.
"It's a stratospheric increase. It's like going from zero to 60. I think many really dreamed of doing this but it wasn't something they ever thought would become a reality."
-Elizabeth Schwartz, Miami attorney who has coordinated more than 100 adoptions for gay and lesbian families in the past year, in an article titled "Adoptions spiked among gay couples in past decade," Associated Press, http://hosted.ap.org, Oct. 20. In an analysis of newly released Census Bureau estimates, about 21,740 same sex couples had an adopted child in 2009, up from 6,477 in 2000; about 32,571 adopted children were living with same sex couples in 2009, up from 8,310 in 2000.
