SHe Said Dec. 1, 2005

“We don’t need a Martin Luther King to lead us to the Promised Land. Instead, we need thousands of people like Rosa Parks to stand up and be leaders in their own communities. No one person can represent everyone. That’s why we need women and men, young and old, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists with various backgrounds and from all parts of the country.”
– Keith Boykin in an opinion piece on Gay.com, Nov. 5, 2005.

“If they’re not ready, they have to get ready because the truth is, it’s a reality. If it’s really hard for you to swallow, we’re singing a beautiful song to lull you into it. I don’t know what else to say. It’s hard for me to figure that people would have a problem with it.”
– Actor Jesse L. Martin on whether his fans are ready to see him sing a love song to actor Wilson Jermaine Heredia in the movie “Rent,” as quoted in The Boston Herald, Nov. 18, 2005.

“Those of us who’re gay have one choice: Live in fear or face down that fear and, by doing so, conquer it. Only by finding the courage to fling open our closet doors can we enjoy the life-affirming exhilaration that comes from being ourselves.”
– Deb Price in The Detroit News, Nov. 21, 2005.

“We cannot forget that when Hitler came to power in 1933 one of the first things that he did was ban gay organizations….Yes, we can disagree about gay marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the hellfires of anti-gay bigotry.”
– Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, as quoted by the Associated Press, Nov. 20, 2005.

“I’m very, very happy with who I am….I know for a fact there are people out there who are just like me and they’d like to have some sort of affirmation that if they come out of the closet and something goes haywire, they have some protection through the courts. I want to be a model for every other guy in South Jersey who’s closeted in a police department.”
– Openly gay New Jersey police officer Michael Kurz who is suing his department for harassment, as quoted in The Courier Post, Nov. 22, 2005.

“There are some who consider our decision to be a disloyal act, and that will take some time to heal. But if you allow yourself to be stepped on time and time again, you have no credibility in Washington. Over time, in part because we stood up for ourselves, feelings will flip back in our direction. We want results. I don’t need to be invited to every GOP cocktail party. And yes, I’ve been invited to fewer GOP cocktail parties since the decision. So be it.”
– Log Cabin Republican President Patrick Guerriero on the group’s decision not to endorse Bush in 2004, as quoted in the Nov. 21, 2005 issue of The Advocate.

“I never thought twice about it… For one thing, I never felt like I had anything at stake, and I think if you make decisions based on society’s opinions, you’re going to make boring choices. What terrified me was self-doubt. I knew that if I was going to do justice to this character, to this story and to this form of love, I was really going to have to mature as an actor, and as a person.”
– Heath Ledger on his role as a gay cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain,” as quoted in Newsweek, Nov. 21, 2005.