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Quote UnQuote

Compiled by Rex Wockner

Published Thursday, 29-Sep-2005 in issue 927

“Drag queens dress up to amuse and, of course, draw attention to themselves. Have you ever seen a shy drag queen? Think of drag queens as the clowns of the gay community. The costumes are usually so over-the-top that no one could really believe they are trying to imitate women.”

Syndicated gay-press columnist Paul Varnell, in August.

“Equality is equality, period. When I leave this Legislature, I want to be able to tell my grandchildren I stood up for dignity and rights for all.”

State Sen. Liz Figueroa as California’s Senate became the first U.S. legislative body ever to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, Sept. 1. The bill also passed the state Assembly, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to veto it.

“The most important thing for me was to never, ever, ever deny it. But I didn’t really have the courage to talk about it. I was thinking, ‘Well, the people who need to know I’m gay know, and I’m somehow living by example by continuing on with my career and having a full, rich life, and I am incidentally gay, but it’s not a big political platform.’ I justified it in so many ways. Believe me, I had a very, very long and difficult struggle with my sexuality.”

TV actress Portia de Rossi to The Advocate, Sept. 13.

“I get the most vicious e-mails from lefties and fags disagreeing with me on tiny, minor points. It’s the narcissism of small differences. I go off the reservation once in a while, I’m just not doctrinaire.”

Syndicated writer Dan Savage to CampusProgress.org, Aug. 26.

“His legacy will in large part be based on whether he signs or vetoes this historic civil rights legislation.”

Equality California Executive Director Geoffrey Kors on Sept. 6 as the California Legislature became the first in the nation to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage.

“Darling Arnie, You are famous with your muscles and [the] heart is a muscle too. But this particular muscle of yours seem to be beating just to be the President. With this veto you may please [the] American right but your decision affects all of us in this global village of ours. Here I am writing from Istanbul and pleading for you to use your conscience: Do not use your veto, be a good boy. Bad boys may go to [the] White House but good boys make a place at our hearts.”

Letter to the Governator from Kursad Kahramanoglu, secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, Sept. 10.

“The average gay man leaves San Francisco after only four years, according to a San Francisco Department of Public Health survey; sex here involves a bigger risk of contracting HIV than most places; and many gay men say the community, if it is more than a population mass, is unwelcoming. That isolation can lead to depression, which itself can lead to substance use and abuse and risky sexual behavior.”

From a Sept. 2 San Francisco Chronicle article headlined “Gay men find it’s not easy being new in town.”