Compiled by Howard Israel
S/He Said
"The born-this-way approach carries an unintended implication that the behavior of gays and lesbians needs biological grounding to evade condemnation. Why should it? Our laws safeguard religious freedom, and that's not because there's a Presbyterian, Buddhist or Mormon gene. There's only a tradition and theology that you elect or decline to follow. But this country has deemed worshiping in a way that feels consonant with who you are to be essential to a person's humanity. So it's protected. Our laws also safeguard the right to bear arms: not exactly a biological imperative. Among adults, the right to love whom you're moved to love – and to express it through sex and maybe, yes, marriage – is surely as vital to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as a Glock. And it's a lot less likely to cause injury, if that's a deciding factor: how a person's actions affect the community around him or her."
-Frank Bruni, in his column titled "Genetic or Not, Gay Won't Go Away," http://www.nytimes.com, Jan. 28. (A Glock is a semi-automatic pistol.)
"An unprecedented 71.3 percent of incoming college students indicated that same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status, compared with 64.9 percent in 2009, a remarkable 6.4 percentage-point increase over a two-year period. While support for same-sex marriage is highest among female students and those who identify as liberal, a significant amount of conservative students (42.8 percent) and an increasing number of male students (64.1 percent in 2011 vs. 56.7 percent in 2009) expressed support for this issue."
-In the findings of the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies' 2011 CIRP Freshman Survey, its annual survey of the nation's first-time full-time students entering four-year colleges at four-year colleges and universities, based on the responses of more than 200,000 from across the country, http://newsroom.ucla.edu, Jan. 25. The survey shows students' political and social views shifted in a more liberal direction in 2011 with notable changes on same-sex marriage, affirmative action and access to higher education for undocumented students.
"Among students entering college, we're seeing a more unified support for same-sex marriage that reaches across political party lines. Given the influence of young voters in the last presidential election, candidates may want to pay careful attention to the student perspective on these and other civil rights issues."
-John H. Pryor, director, Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and lead author of the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies' 2011 CIRP Freshman Survey, its annual survey of the nation's first-time full-time students entering four-year colleges at four-year colleges and universities, based on the responses of more than 200,000 from across the country, http://newsroom.ucla.edu, Jan. 25. The survey shows students' political and social views shifted in a more liberal direction in 2011 with notable changes on same-sex marriage, affirmative action and access to higher education for undocumented students.
"How do we tackle femme invisibility? More and more gay men are coming out in the celebrity world, but there is still a great lack of openly out and proud feminine lesbians. We have Portia de Rossi, up-and-coming actress Amber Heard, Miss California hopeful Mollie Thomas, and country singer Chely Wright. I'm not sure Lindsay Lohan or Megan Fox really count, do they? There is a great lack of femme lesbian role models. Who do the young lesbians have to show them that they can be feminine and still be gay? Growing up is confusing for anyone, and I certainly felt that there was no one to look up to and help me see that my future could be bright, with a gorgeous wife and the house with the white, picket fence."
-Megan Evans, gay rights activist, freelance blogger, writer, in her column titled "Femme Invisibility," http://www.huffingtonpost.com, Jan. 27.
