Gay Today: Quote

Quotes & Quips

Compiled By Jack Nichols

Is Reggie White God Himself?

People who call Reggie White a bigot and homophobic, beware, because you're calling God himself a bigot and homophobic.

Reggie White-- to an overflow congregation at First Assembly of God in Des Moines— Stephen Buttry—Des Moines Register, April 19

Conversation in the Park

"Are suede jackets manly and masculine?" I asked.

"Uh—very good question. I would think this is masculine because I think these buttons—when I first looked at them. The thing that struck me was the buttons…"

"Its embarrassing to talk about your jacket?"

"Yeah, I don't really see myself as the kind of guy who would discuss it. I mean, I might discuss my car. I suspect that most guys who are straight would not want to admit that they had a deep philosophical thought about their jackets. I hate to stereotype, but I suspect that that's probably true. I think guys in general are homophobic but what's that say about you if you start waxing on enthusiastically about your coat? I see it as a casual jacket you can wear with jeans, but I wouldn't wear it with, you know, fancy pants or anything."

George Gurley—"The New York World"—The New York Observer, April 19

Lets Play Cowboys & Lesbians

An old cowboy, dressed to kill with a cowboy shirt, hat, jeans, spurs and chaps, went to a bar and ordered a drink. As he sat sipping his whiskey, a young lady sat down next to him. After she ordered her drink, she turned to the cowboy and asked him, "Are you a real cowboy?"

To which he replied, "Well, I have spent my whole life on the ranch, herding cows, breaking horses, mending fences. I guess I am."

Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues brought lebianism in the wild west to the big screen

After a short while, he asked her what she was. She replied, "I am a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think of women. When I eat, shower, watch TV, everything seems to make me think of women." A short while later she left, and the cowboy ordered another drink.

A couple sat down next to him and asked, "Are you a real cowboy?" To which he replied, "I thought I was, but I just found out that I'm a lesbian."

GayToday—"Joke of the Week" –April 26

What Does Capitalist Pig Mean?

I was angry with the pharmaceutical industry for not making those drugs available to people in the developing world, because I had to watch my friends who were just as deserving to live die premature deaths, because price gouging by the industry put these drugs out of reach for the majority of people living with AIDS, especially in the developing world--as well as refusal by the drug companies to market their drugs in the developing world.

An industry representative said I should indeed by thankful to the drug industry for saving my life, and that I should realize that if it wasn't for its ability to have the levels of profits I was criticizing, research and development could not happen-- and that if I continued with this tactic, very likely research and development on new drugs would dry up--meaning shut up, or we're not going to develop new drugs and we'll let you die. Many in the audience were outraged by his audacity….

Their real concern is that if governments like the U.S., which actually pays for much of the research and development of these drugs anyway, realized how cheaply they can be manufactured and sold, and still at a profit, governments would no longer be willing to pay current prices, and would force price reductions, eroding the profitability of the industry. So this dispute is really about industry continuing the price gouging it does in developed countries.

Eric Sawyer—HIV/AIDS Human Rights Project—AIDS Treatment News, April 16

Warning Signs?

Yeah, they dressed a little differently, maybe they dressed in black, but so, what do priests dress in?

John Adams—whose daughter was a friend to Dylan Klebold, Littleton, Colorado murder suspect---New York Times—"Sketch of 2 Killers: Contradictions and Confusion"—April 23

Republicans for Sexual Freedom?

Sexual freedom will never be a GOP priority. Libertarian Republicans are always quashed by colleagues beholden to the Religious Right.

Liz Galst—"Marriage Made in Hell"—Ms. magazine, April/ May

It Feels Good to Have Made a Difference

I could think of better places in history to have made a name for myself, but it feels good to have made a difference to other people and to have maybe helped someone else.

Matthew Hall— Australian Courts OK'd this HIV Positive Footballer to Play—"HIV footy verdict sets precedent" The Age newspaper. Melbourne, Australia. 24 April 24

Saved by the Blood

I would gladly enjoy a mild-mannered conversation if only the Christian right would take the gun away from my head. But nay, it has long seemed as (Tony) Kushner points out, that the only language such jockeys of God and the millions who tune them in on television and radio understand is that which is writ in blood…It is only by being confronted with the truth of Kushner's claim—that the gains in democracy and freedom have long required blood offerings (such as Matthew Shepard's)—that we, the fractious communities that make up this country of dreams and nightmares, might rid ourselves of the farce of civil discourse in the interests of civic responsibility.

Tony Kushner says the only language televangelists and their followers understand is that of blood

David Waggoner—"Blood Offering"—Harper's magazine, May

Women or Men Behind Bars

Even in states that criminalize sexual misconduct by prison guards, enforcement is often lax.

Amnesty Action--Amnesty International USA—Spring 1999 issue

Poet of the Body & the Soul

Walt Whitman

Whitman was, by and large, a poet of superb first inspiration. Nothing demonstrates this better than the six editions (or eight or nine, depending on how one counts) of Leaves of Grass itself. The 1855 edition had a thrust of originality that is perfectly epitomized by the fact that Whitman daringly chose to present himself to the world for the first time not with his name on the title page but with an image of himself loafing in a slouch hat, his undershirt showing from a wide-spread open collar. The 1855 edition is brilliantly sui generis and deserves study in its pristine 1855 form, for it is the American equivalent of the 1609 Sonnets of Shakespeare—the single most important volume in its nation's patrimony.

Gary Schmidgall—"Introduction"—from Walt Whitman: Selected Poems, 1855-1892 to be published by St. Martin's Press in June.