compiled by Howard Israel
"It was very easy to find people who honestly thought that gay people should be shot or killed. Even in Britain, where same-sex lovers can enter civil partnerships, the interviewers discovered people said the most incredibly shocking things. We found the most homophobia in immigrant communities that reflected the prejudices of their homelands. Even if they themselves had experienced prejudice because of their ethnicity and/or their religion, they didn't see the irony of then discriminating against another minority. We found it difficult to get lesbians, particularly from the Afro-Caribbean and the Muslim communities. We knew they were there, but they didn't want to be identified for all sorts of reasons. We had to be quite active in bringing forward the women's stories."
– Lloyd Newson, choreographer and openly gay artistic director of London's DV8 Physical Theatre, commenting on his dance-theater piece titled "To Be Straight With You", at Montclair State University, New Jersey, NJ.com, Sept. 29. The work draws on interviews with gay Britons, with clergy members and with people in the streets of London and Manchester, combining words and body language to paint a horrifying picture of intolerance.
"We are all rightly concerned about the nation's financial situation today. Our crisis is a symptom, not the cause. I am not saying I know whether this financial crisis is God's judgment or not. It is not for me to know that definitively. If politicians really want to get serious about … this national crisis they will do the following immediately: …end abortion rights and defund non-profit groups supporting it, amend state constitutions to ban gay marriage and eliminate domestic partnerships and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, and end discrimination against private religious schools and homeschools. If we did (these things) in 2009 I think God would crack a smile."
– Michael Heath, Christian Civil League of Maine Executive Director, writing in his blog about the Wall Street crisis, titled "The nation will right itself if it fixes sex," http://www.MikeHeathblogspot.com, Sept. 25.
"Florida's 1977 gay adoption ban arose out of unveiled expressions of bigotry' when the state was experiencing a severe backlash to demands for civil rights by gay people in Miami. Disqualifying every gay Floridian from raising a family, enjoying grandchildren or carrying on the family name, based on nothing more than lawful sexual conduct, while assuring child abusers, terrorists, drug dealers, rapists and murderers at least individualized consideration is so disproportionately severe that it violates the state and U.S. constitutions."
– Circuit Judge David John Audlin, Jr., in a strongly worded 67-page order, allowing a gay man to adopt a child, Miami Herald, Sept. 24. Legal scholars say Judge Audlin's order will stand, but it is unlikely to be influential in future Florida adoption cases.
"State laws should serve children's best interests by permitting joint and second-parent adoptions, and all states should give 'full faith and credit' to adoptions legally completed in other states, without regard to the marital status or sexual orientation of the adoptive parents. Agencies should assess their policies and practices to ensure that they are welcoming – in recruitment, training and post-placement services – for all qualified family resources who want to provide homes for children in foster care, including gay/lesbian individuals and couples. A number of studies found gay and lesbian adults are very willing to adopt children with special needs and, as a demographic group, may be more willing to do so than heterosexual adults."
– In a study published by New York-based Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, titled "Expanding Resources For Waiting Children Ii: Eliminating Legal & Practice Barriers To Gay & Lesbian Adoption From Foster Care," recommends that "qualifications, not sexual orientation, should be the guiding principle in finding homes for adoptive children," http://www.365Gay.com, Sept. 25.
"This is really shocking news as I had no idea he was gay. And now I have to deal with this. I am not sure what to say to people who know I was a fan. I didn't go to work today and am not answering the telephone."
– Sheridansq, a Clay Aiken fan, in a posted comment after Aiken revealed he is gay, on the fan site, ClayManiacs, Associated Press, Sept. 25.
