Outlines, The Voice of the Gay and Lesbian Community, Aug. 30, 2000 Copyright © 2000 Lambda Publications Inc. All rights reserved.

Quotelines

 by tracy baim and rex wockner

LEFT: Openly gay U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., at the Republican National Convention. ABOVE: Dick Cheney addresses the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Photos by Rex Wockner

"Is he Green or pink? ... Of course, I don't necessarily have that information, and I certainly don't want to say anything libelous or unreasonable. All I'm saying is that we believe he has strong ties to the community&emdash;and has for years&emdash;and hasn't been forthright about it." &emdash; Lesbian California state Assemblywoman Carole Migden on presidential candidate Ralph Nader, as quoted in the Aug. 16 San Francisco Chronicle.

"The answer to her inference [that I'm gay] is no." &emdash; Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in response to lesbian California state Assemblywoman Carole Migden's statement.

"If he was sabotaging gay rights, I could see some point [in outing him]. I mean, what is this? The old 'he's over 40 and single' profile? ... I tell you what. If Ralph ever calls me for a date, you'll be the first to know." &emdash; Gay San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano on lesbian California state Assemblywoman Carole Migden's suggestion that Nader is a closeted homosexual.

"I think so. Generally, the society is more tolerant today than it used to be, and the party is reflective of that tolerance." &emdash; Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney when asked by The Washington Post "if he thought the country and the Republican Party have evolved on the issue of gay rights," Aug. 6.

"That's not what you asked me. I've gone as far as I'm going to go on this subject." &emdash; Cheney when asked by The Washington Post if the GOP platform reflects the evolution of the country and the Republican Party on the issue of gay rights. The platform denounces gay Boy Scouts, gay adoption, gay marriage and gay-rights laws.

"I'm not going to get into that. Mary's private life is her own business and nobody else's. And it's not a subject I'm going to talk about. ... I think inclusiveness is a good thing. I think if we're going to have a viable party, it's got to be able to appeal to everybody. And we want to encourage folks of every background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender to participate in the party." &emdash; Dick Cheney on his openly lesbian daughter to The Los Angeles Times, Aug. 7.

"How can Cheney run on a party platform that denies his own personal experience with at least two thoroughly honorable homosexuals&emdash;his trusted aide [former Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams] and his loving daughter? The platform approved by the same convention that nominated Mary Cheney's father would bar her from military service, deny her civil rights protection from discrimination and prevent any legal recognition of the five-year relationship she has had with her partner." &emdash; Robert Scheer writing in the Aug. 10 Los Angeles Times.

"We actually met at Home Depot in the power-tools section. Mark is very friendly and very at ease with people. I was looking at a drill and he just started telling me 'you should get this' and 'look at this one.' I thought he was cute and we sort of hit it off and started talking. Gaydar activity was definitely going on there. We walked out of the store, and we exchanged numbers, and we've been together four years now." &emdash; Guitarist Keith Strickland of the B-52's to San Diego's Update, Aug. 3.

"I don't think that I have any homophobia, or ever [did]. I came to New York city in the mid-seventies to be an actor when being gay was considered cool&emdash;bisexuality was looked at as something really great. I went to Studio 54 as a kid and a lot of the best partying was at gay clubs, [so] I just never really had too much of an issue with it." &emdash; Actor Kevin Bacon to the AIDS magazine A & U, August issue.

"I could live in Chicago. I think it's a great city because it's cold all the time and I hate hot weather. And the boys are really cute here. Some of the cutest boys always live in Chicago and they don't want to go to New York or L.A. I like that." &emdash; Filmmaker John Waters to Chicago's Outlines, Aug. 2.

"Obviously the University of Hawaii is not a gay institution, and it's inappropriate for the school to keep using what has essentially become a gay design. They're not gay. Why should they be using a rainbow? It's like the rainbow apple, which I always think means the people in the car with the sticker are gay. But they're not. They're just Apple people. It's confusing." &emdash; San Francisco Bay Times news writer Ann Rostow, Aug. 3.

"I was ... just tired of seeing [lesbian-themed] movies where the femme is the accomplice, the weaker one that the butch gets. I wanted to make a move about the inverse of that." &emdash; Jamie Babbit, director of But I'm A Cheerleader, to Florida's The Weekly News, July 27.

"I do consider myself an activist as far as making art that's political and I've certainly been political in my lifetime. I think just in the nature of making a queer film, it's political. There are certainly other films I could have made that could have closeted myself and not been where my heart is." &emdash; Babbit.

"I've always said the person I was before I came out is the same person I am now. ... I'm not a reluctant warrior. When the time comes, and the chips are down, I will speak out, and I have, to expand our party." &emdash; Openly gay U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., to Roll Call, Aug. 10.

"While marches, demonstrations and rallies are important means of emotional expression, they do little to move the political process. What moves people is to call their congressman and say 'You do this and I'll vote for you.'" &emdash; Openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., speaking at the National Stonewall Democratic Federation convention Aug. 10 in Palm Springs, Calif.

"Some bitch stole the name www.rupaul.com and held it hostage and tried to bribe me into buying it. But I think I have that all straightened out and we'll be switching to dot-com later this summer." &emdash; RuPaul, presently located at www.rupaul.net, to the Missouri gay magazine EXP, July 28.

"I can't really get a grasp on what she's up to or what she's doing. It doesn't seem to ever really make any sense. I just hope she finds a little bit of peace of mind. She seems like she's pretty tortured." &emdash; Actress Sandra Bernhard on singer Sinead O'Connor to San Diego's Gay & Lesbian Times, Aug. 10. In recent months O'Connor said she was a lesbian, then said she wasn't, then said she prefers sex with women but is celibate.

"The reality is that I don't believe in gay or straight and I am neither gay or straight. I prefer having sex with women, I prefer making love with women, I find that sexier, I'm more suited to going out with women. However, I'm celibate and choose to be celibate. I have gone out with men and find men sexy as well, but if it comes down to the bottom line, I prefer making love to women." &emdash; The latest from singer Sinead O'Connor, to the British lesbian magazine Diva, August issue.

"In the year 2000, everyone marvels that a Jew is a candidate for vice president. ... If we are the democracy that we pretend to be, than we should have already had a president who is Jewish, black or gay." &emdash; Actor Woody Allen to France's Le Monde newspaper, Aug. 16.

"Right now, I'm on my three-drug combo, I'm doing great, I'm undetectable for the first time, I have more T cells than ever. And I don't believe for a minute that it's going to last. I'm on Sustiva, and for all we know, a year from now my dick is going to fall off or I'm going to have brain tumors. I'm pretty much assuming I'll get a two-year run. So, I'm healthy. I have a beautiful home. I have the possibility of a future, and I find it all quite incomprehensible. So who knows? A year from now, I might be a daddy. I might be running for mayor of Palm Springs. Or I might be dead. You just don't know. But bring it on, baby. Bring it on." &emdash; Cleve Jones, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt to Poz magazine, September issue. Jones is looking into the possibility of becoming a father thanks to a technique that removes HIV from sperm.

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