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"There is easily no other issue that makes me crazier than the issue of bathroom sex and the so-called 'rights' of this tiny minority of men to do what they do. For 10 years I've listened to their whining; fielded their angry, pointless telephone calls; and generally marveled at how they have convinced themselves that their proclivities rank in the pantheon of political priorities somewhere between the right to vote and the right to breathe. Lots of these guys -- many of whom no doubt also whine about how 'shallow' gay life is -- truly expect the gay political agenda to grind to a halt so that they can indulge their own base shallowness."

--Jeff Epperly, editor of Boston's Bay Windows, in a May 21 editorial.

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"I landed in New York at 14 and lived there [with relatives] until I was 22. I was not a club kid, I was a real serious kid. I am still pretty serious. I'm really a homebody, I don't want to leave my house."

--Gay celebrity-activist Chastity Bono to the Toronto Star, May 29.

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"We were estranged and I hadn't talked to him in almost a year. I feel terrible about that."

--Gay celebrity-activist Chastity Bono on the death of her father, Sonny Bono, to USA Today, June 11.

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"[My Tales of the City] miniseries did very well for PBS [in 1994]. It brought bouquets from critics, unprecedented ratings, a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination for best miniseries. But it enraged some conservative watchdogs who objected to its unapologetic display of nudity and same-sex affection, not to mention Mrs. Madrigal's shrubbery. An uproar of biblical proportions ensued. Members of Congress were treated to a 12- minute videotape of scenes from the miniseries, complete with naked breasts and guys kissing, courtesy of the American Family Association. There were official condemnations of the show by the legislatures of Oklahoma and Georgia, the latter seriously endangering a $20 million public-television facility. At the PBS station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a bomb threat prompted officials to pull Tales one hour before airtime. Within a matter of weeks, PBS had quietly retreated from its plans to participate in the funding of More Tales of the City, a six-part follow-up. ... My characters were abandoned in mid-crisis, with storylines dangling."

--Author Armistead Maupin writing in the June 6 TV Guide. More Tales of the City aired on the Showtime cable network June 7-8.

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"[At 28 Barbary Lane reside] all the mismatched pieces of my own personality: my blind romanticism (Michael Tolliver), my demanding libido (Brian Hawkins), my melancholy cynicism (Mona Ramsey), my deceptive innocence (Mary Ann Singleton), and even the worldly and loving maturity I hoped to attain some day (Mrs. Madrigal)."

--Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin writing in the June 6 TV Guide.

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"I fell in love with him [Oscar Wilde] in stages. I fell in love with his writing first when I read 'The Importance of Being Earnest' when I was quite small. Then as a teenager I fell in love with his image in quite the shallow way that teenagers do. I loved the paraphernalia that went with him, the cigarette holders, the loveliness, the artifice. Then reading his biographies I fell in love with him because he was wise and kind and good natured and flawed and human."

--Gay actor Stephen Fry, star of the new film 'Wilde', to the Boston Globe, May 31.

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"I don't give a shit whether he goes cottaging [looking for sex in public toilets], but finally George Michael is out and there's nothing he can do about hiding it anymore. I knew it would happen eventually but I didn't think it would happen in such a ceremonious way!"

--Singer Boy George to London's Pink Paper, May 29.

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"Congress doesn't want any gays in the military. Well, maybe gays don't want any drunken womanizers in the Congress. As for gays in the Navy -- like we could have a Navy without them!"

--Actress/comedian Judy Tenuta to the Michigan gay newspaper Between The Lines, May 28.

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"Topless lesbians can spend the afternoon lounging in front of the White House and no police can be found. But let someone sneeze near an abortion clinic and it looks like the policeman's ball."

--Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Sheldon in a June 5 press release about D.C.'s gay-pride celebration.

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"Unsuspecting tourists, particularly families here to see the monuments, have no way of knowing that they will be sharing that experience with bearded transvestites wearing nun costumes and a lesbian motorcycle gang dressed up like Xena."

--Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Sheldon in a June 5 press release about D.C.'s gay-pride celebration.

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"The Apostle Paul made it abundantly clear in the Book of Romans that the acceptance of homosexuality is the last step in the decline of Gentile civilization. I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you. This is not a message of hate; this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor."

--Former Presidential candidate Pat Robertson in reference to Gay Day at Disney World and the gay flags now hanging on Orlando city light poles, on his 700 Club TV show, June 8.

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"We just hope he is wrong."

--Jim DeSimone, communications director for Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood.

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"The plaintiff was not fired because of sexual identity; he was terminated because he couldn't perform a function of the job: being gay. ... We just love to live in a politically correct world; it's so evolved, isn't it? But where along the way did we pass the law against common sense? This is a French Bistro. When people go there it's not just to eat, it's to dine in the ambience of culture -- they wanna feel elite, sophisticated – a good gay waiter can make the patrons feel that way. They have that snobbish little entitlement thing going, you know? People like that. The waiter kind [of gays] are [elitist snobs]. First, they're smarter. They grow up reading more books, probably looking to find an answer as to why they're homosexual, plus they're terrible at sports which gives them more time to study -- the point is, they're smart, they wanna work in the arts, they end up waiters -- way over-qualified, bitter, snobby – and people have come to expect this when ordering a fruity wine."

--The character Richard Fish on a recent episode of Fox TV's Ally McBeal series.

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"I'm becoming hugely mainstream famous and being able to act gay and straight roles and be accepted in both those areas. As far as I know I'm the only one who's been able to do that. It really marks a change in our society."

--Lesbian comedian/actress/singer Lea DeLaria to the San Francisco Chronicle, June 12.

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"They want me to sing Get Happy. I am living a faggot's wet dream ... and I'm having the time of my life doing it!"

--Comedian/actress/singer Lea DeLaria on being asked to sing at a tribute to Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall along with Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft, to Cleveland's Gay People's Chronicle, May 15.

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"He [Harrison Ford] called me about these stories that he didn't want to play opposite me anymore [after I came out as Ellen DeGeneres' girlfriend] and said, 'That's all malarkey.' He was wonderful about it. In fact, we added a story line as we went along that we realize he's too old for me, but in the end it's the love inside that matters."

--Actress Anne Heche about her new film Six Days, Seven Nights to Parade Magazine, May 31.

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"[I] sometimes look at Pride nowadays and see only the negative things, of which there are many ... the commercialism, the cheesy rainbow _everything_, the hokey 'We Shall Overcome' rallies, and the often silly--and sometimes just plain dull--parades."

--Journalist Michelangelo Signorile in a June 12 syndicated opinion column.

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"For all the talk of our perverted, godless lifestyle, I've always been impressed with how civic-minded we gay men and lesbians are. We're always volunteering for something – whether it's editing feminist magazines, or caring for PWAs, or organizing a cultural festival. In fact, what I remember most about coming out was not so much the freedom of finally acknowledging who I was, but how quickly my sisters signed me up for various committees. It's no wonder it took me so long to finally get laid -- I was always busy doing childcare at benefits for women's shelters, or schlepping coffee to abortion clinic defence teams, or organizing letter writing campaigns to various homophobic, sexist, racist, classist politicians."

--Rachel Giese, features editor of Toronto's Xtra!, in a June 4 editorial.

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NRA top gun Charlton Heston as Moses in The 10 Commandments

Many homosexuals are hugely talented artists and executives...also dear friends. I don't despise their lifestyle, though I don't share it. As long as gay and lesbian Americans are as productive, law-abiding and private as the rest of us, I think America owes them absolute tolerance. It's the right thing to do. But on the other hand, I find my blood pressure rising when Clinton's cultural shock troops participate in homosexual-rights fund-raisers but boycott gun-rights fund-raisers...and then claim it's time to place homosexual men in tents with Boy Scouts, and suggest that sperm donor babies born into lesbian relationships are somehow better served and more loved."

--Actor Charlton Heston in a recent speech to the Free Congress Foundation's 20th Anniversary Gala. The full speech is online at http://www.vpc.org/nrainfo/speech.html

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"Mr. Clinton, sir, America did not trust you with our health-care system. America did not trust you with gays in the military. We did not trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns."

--Actor Charlton Heston addressing the National Rifle Association's 127th convention June 6 in Philadelphia. Rex Wockner's "Quote Unquote" is archived from mid-1994 onward at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/world/wockner.html