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Quote UnQuote

Compiled by Rex Wockner

Published Thursday, 24-May-2007 in issue 1013

“This legislation would create equal legal protection and responsibilities for all individuals who seek to marry or have their marriage protected in the state of New York. Strong, stable families are the cornerstones of our society. The responsibilities inherent in the institution of marriage benefit those individuals and society as a whole.”

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer as he and Lt. Gov. David Paterson submitted legislation to legalize full marriage for same-sex couples, April 27.

“It just hit me like a ton of bricks [when he came out to me]. I wasn’t absorbing it. I just started to cry. … I felt like my world had crumbled and my life was over. In the course of the three days of his explanation and confession to me, it was clear to me that he never loved me. … No one ever said to me that he was gay. It’s a cliché that the wife is always the last to know, and it’s true. … I’m not in denial, but I don’t think he’s simply gay. I think he’s bisexual. I mean, he was married twice. He has two children. And, you know, I never saw him checking out men, but I certainly saw him checking out women. … I want [other people in a similar situation] to know … you have nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve done nothing wrong. Most of them, just like me, probably married their spouse because they fell in love with them.”

Dina Matos McGreevey, wife of former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, in an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show, May 1. In divorce papers, the ex-governor has claimed his wife “knew of my sexual orientation before our marriage” and “chose to either ignore it or block it out of her mind, even when questioned by her friends.”

“I am the first openly gay congressional committee chairman, which means I am the first openly gay or lesbian person in American history to have significant governmental powers. A lot of very important people in the country and in the world are going to have to deal with me on equal terms, which will be very helpful in dealing with the prejudice against gay people. This is a big deal because this chairmanship oversees legislation on banking, securities, the Federal Reserve, the World Bank, the New York Stock Exchange – hard-edged bastions of conservatism.”

Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who became chair of the House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee in January, to Out magazine, May issue.

“When gay fans approach me, after they say how much they love Kevin, the next question inevitably is about Sally Field and what she’s like to work with and how much they adore her work from Steel Magnolias and Soapdish, so I realize the magnitude of Sally’s standing as a gay icon.”

British actor Matthew Rhys, who plays the gay character Kevin Walker on the ABC-TV series “Brothers & Sisters,” to Instinct magazine, May issue.

“On Monday 23 April we lost the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, a man who, risking his life, gave freedom to us – a man who underpinned the democratic values of contemporary Russia. The Russian gay community will always remember Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin as a man who put an end to almost 60 years of criminal prosecution for male homosexual relations. The law that he signed in April 1993 came into force on 27 May 1993. This day entered into the Russian history of the LGBT movement. 27 May was chosen as the date for the conduct of the first-ever gay pride march in Moscow last year.”

Gay activist and journalist Nikolai Alekseev writing at GayRussia.ru, April 23.

Assistance: Bill Kelley