Compiled By Howard Israel
S/he Said
"(I understand) the pressures to stay in the closet. An actor's role is to portray someone else on screen, so many actors like to hide as many elements of their lives and real identity from their audience so they can do their craft to their best ability. Gay actors often feel if the audience knows they are gay they won't portray heterosexual roles as effectively. All actors struggle with the same issue. Being gay is just another element of this."
-Dan Wakeford, editor-in-chief, In Touch and Life & Style, two weekly entertainment magazines, in an article titled "Gay Pride 2012: Hollywood Insiders Talk Celebrity Coming-Out Fears," http://www.huffingtonpost.com, June 25.
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"A Boy Scouts of America national board member, James Turley, recently said he 'will work from within to seek a change' to overturn the BSA policy that bans gay Scouts and leaders. But is Turley working on his own initiative, or has the White House prodded him with perks and favors? Is it a coincidence that Turley came out swinging against the BSA's century-old policy to ban gays from leadership and that he has such close affiliations with the pro-gay Obama administration? Is it a coincidence that when Turley turned on the BSA with his pro-gay stance, Obama turned on the U.S. military and sent down a decree that the service branches must celebrate 'LGBT Pride Month'? Is it a coincidence that Turley is in tight cahoots with the White House and that he is the only BSA national board member in 100 years to oppose its pro-traditional family stance? Is it a coincidence that as the honorary BSA president, Obama hasn't had one minute to defend or say anything about the series of lawsuits that have been levied against the BSA because of its First Amendment rights to stand against atheists, agnostics and homosexuals?"
-Chuck Norris, former action hero, in his column titled "Is Obama Creating a Pro-Gay Boy Scouts of America?," taking an anti-Obama, anti-gay stand against allowing gay leaders and scouts in the Boy Scouts of America, http://www.ammoland.com, June 26.
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"For my safety and the safety of those I work with, I try to blend in as much as possible, and prefer to stick to my job of telling other people's stories, and not my own. … Recently, however, I've begun to consider whether the unintended outcomes of maintaining my privacy outweigh personal and professional principle. … The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."
-Anderson Cooper, in an email to Andrew Sullivan which he gave permission to publish, http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com, July 2.
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"Hey bigots, don't stop at Oreo. Google companies that support gay rights and lets see you boycott all of them. If you have an iPod, iPad, or iPhone, time to get rid of them. And if you have a droid? Well, Google owns them and they are also pro-gay rights. I guess you're going to have to find a new search engine too. Don't stop at the cookies. I want to see you really take a stand for your bigotry and hate. I want to see you live without favorite products and websites because of it, while I enjoy the hell out of all of them. Please go for it. Love, a bisexual woman."
-A posting by a rainbow Oreo cookie supporter, in an article titled "Oreo Supports Gay Rights, Pride, With Rainbow Filling," about the image of an Oreo cookie filled with rainbow-colored cream layers on Oreo's official Facebook page with the caption "Proudly support love!," that went viral with supporters and a few anti-gay protesters, http://www.inquisitr.com, June 26
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