I Didn't Say It ....

Ana Maria Ortiz, a member of Mexico's right wing National Action Party, on marriage equality:

"Marriage should only be considered as those relationships in which the members have sex facing each other, which does not occur between homosexual couples."

Um, think again, Ana. I mean, you seem so obsessed with the ins-n-out-s of homo-sex and yet you have no real idea how it can be done.

It’s funny when homophobes are all consumed with The Gays and how we ‘do’ it, because most gays could care less how The Straights do it.

Thomas Roberts, MSNBC host, on the GOP and their anti-marriage equality stance:

"Reince Priebus, when I got engaged, congratulated me at the White House Correspondents' weekend. Last year, Sean Spicer congratulated me on getting married to my husband. Yet they incorporate into the platform of the RNC their stance against marriage equality. It's odd, because why congratulate me? I didn't bring it up, I didn't say give me a congratulations, but they offered it. So it's odd, because then they'll go out and drumbeat that they're against marriage equality. It's weird."

It’s the hypocrisy of the GOP. To your face they’re all, Congratulations, and yet behind your back is when they show their true colors.

BTW: Sean Spicer, who is the RNC's communications director, responded thusly: "Believing marriage is between one man and one woman and being polite, courteous and respectful are not mutually exclusive."

But then why congratulate a man on doing something you work so virulently to oppose. You didn’t have to say Congratulations you could have just said Hello.

Like I said, hypocrisy.

Frank Bruni, on the rise in gay bashing:

"After all the education that we Americans have had and all the relished progress we’ve made, being gay does mean feeling constrained in situations where most people aren’t, scared in circumstances that wouldn’t frighten others in the least, self-conscious when you shouldn’t have to be. Like when you’re holding someone’s hand. It’s the sweetest, most innocent and most natural of gestures: to interlock your fingers with those of a person for whom you’re feeling a sudden rush of affection. A person you maybe love. And yet when my partner takes my hand in public in New York City, I look at the sidewalk ahead. I note how many pedestrians are coming our way, and how quickly, and whether they’re male or female, young or old, observant or distracted. And I sometimes take my hand back, wishing I were braver, wishing our world didn’t ask me to be." 

So sad to live in a world where holding the hand of the person you love could get you killed.

But that’s a fact, folks.

Masen Davis, the transgendered Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center, on Save California president, and bigot, Randy Thomasson referring to him as a 'lady':

"Thomasson’s attempt to disrespect my own gender identity by referring to me as a ‘lady’ said more about him than me (I’m no lady, and clearly he is no gentleman). I am comfortable in my own skin, and proud of my journey as a transgender man. I have heard, though, from many transgender people and allies who are very upset by his shallow attempt to mis-gender me. Failing to honor the gender identity of a transgender person is a common way for anti-equality zealots to try to undermine our credibility and humanity...I am surprised and disappointed that CNN relied on Randy Thomasson, described by Media Matters as the leader of an ‘anti-LGBT hate group,’ to discuss the passage of California’s AB1266 (the School Success and Opportunity Act). Thomasson’s extremist sentiments exemplify why transgender youth and adults alike need legal protection from discrimination and bias. I urge CNN to engage more reasoned and legitimate ‘experts’ in future segments about transgender issues."

Seriously, CNN, why ask someone who clearly hates LGBT people on to a show and discuss LGBT issues?

It’s just media pandering and trying to put on a ‘show’ rather than tell a story.

Orson Scott Card, former NOM board member, on Obama’s creation of a Secret police:

"Obama will claim we need a national police force in order to fight terrorism and crime. The Boston bombing is a useful start, especially when combined with random shootings by crazy people. Where will he get his 'national police'? The NaPo will be recruited from 'young out-of-work urban men' and it will be hailed as a cure for the economic malaise of the inner cities. In other words, Obama will put a thin veneer of training and military structure on urban gangs, and send them out to channel their violence against Obama's enemies. Instead of doing drive-by shootings in their own neighborhoods, these young thugs will do beatings and murders of people 'trying to escape' -- people who all seem to be leaders and members of groups that oppose Obama. Already the thugs who serve the far left agenda of Obama's team do systematic character assassination as a means of intimidating their opponents into silence. But physical beatings and 'legal' disappearances will be even more effective -- as Hitler and Putin and many other dictators have demonstrated over and over."

Looks like someone is trying to create a new work of fiction.

John Amaechi, openly gay retired NBA player, on the proposed boycott of the Sochi Olympics:

"Asking for a boycott is a very principled thing to do. I am with Stephen [Fry] in that the sentiment is absolutely correct – I just don’t think it’s practical – and I want to be clear…it’s a sad thing that it’s not practical because it means that people with great power have somehow lost sight of their lofty principles. It should be practical because if you look at the Olympic Charter and the seven principles of Olympianism which speak of things like human dignity; which speak of things like not allowing discrimination for any reason – if you look at those principles the Olympics shouldn’t even be in Russia in the first place." 

Too true; and I’m still hoping, perhaps in vain, that the Games can be moved to a place where The Gays aren’t subjected to such hatred, on the field or off.

Stephen Colbert, on the controversy surrounding the Sochi Olympics and Russia's anti-gay laws:

"Now this anti-gay legislation has caused outrage and in response the International Olympic Committee has bravely stood up to Putin and said, 'Whatever you want, Vlad'...All the Olympic Committee is saying is that being gay is an act of protest because what are gay men doing but boycotting women. The IOC is just asking gay athletes to knock it off for a couple of weeks. Just like at the '36 Olympic Games Hitler asked Jesse Owens to ease off on the black. Don't be so 'out there!' But to be safe I think they should bring the Olympics back to their Greek roots where nothing gay ever happened."

Word.

Funny, but true.

Sandy Rios, homophobic bigot and radio host, on God and The Gays ... and Obama and the liberals, too: 

"I would not want to be in the shoes of any of the left right now. I would not want to be in Barack Obama’s shoes. I would not want to be in the shoes of homosexual activists. I say that with humility and with fear for them because God will even the score, he will sort things out, he will be God and he will not be mocked. Whereas they think they are getting away with breaking all kinds of moral laws and mocking everyone in the process, they just don’t know God, they don’t know who they are up against and we do. And that should bring out some mercy in us because I wouldn’t want to be—what did that old evangelist say: ‘it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.’"

So, Rios thinks God will smite The Gays, oh, and the Liberals, and Obama.

Funny thing, though, is that God is love, not hate.

Hate is reserved for people like Sandy Rios.

Lee Daniels, director of Precious and The Butler, on growing up gay and the stigma attached to homosexuality in the black community: 

"Black men can't come out. Why? Because you simply can't do it. Your family says it. Your church says it. Your teachers say it. Your parents say it. Your friends say it. Your work says it. So you're living on this 'DL' thing and you're infecting black women. And its killing us. The black culture and the Hispanic culture have a thing about [homosexuality]"

The saddest thing of all is the harm caused to young Black gay men and women who feel that they have to live in fear and shame and self-loathing. Hopefully, people, young Black gay people, will look at lee Daniels and realize that they, too, can come out, and they, too, can be themselves.

Jeremy Abbott, U.S. figure skater, who plans on staying silent about Russia's treatment of The Gays while competing there:

“Russia is hosting us. I'm not going to go into somebody's house and be like, ‘Um, the way you decorate is hideous, and you need to completely redo this or I'm never coming back.’ It's a little rude, so I don't want to say bad things about a country that's hosting the world, essentially. Maybe I don't agree with their policies, and maybe I don't agree with some things, but that's for them to sort out. My speaking out just makes me look like an ass.”

First off, Jeremy, you aren’t criticizing the way Russia decorates. You’d be criticizing a country that jails people, beats people, murders people, just for being gay. But, if you want to believe that isn’t worth talking about, then I’d ask that you simply not talk.

Your speaking out now does make you look like an ass; an ass who doesn’t care about LGBT Russians who have been brutalized or murdered.

So stay silent, but if some day, someone comes for you because of some intrinsic part of who you are,  and when you plead for help, the world has more caring people in it, and less people like Jeremy Abbott.

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I Didn't Say It ....

Greg Louganis, Olympic champion diver and out gay man, on the controversy over LGBT athletes and the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics:

"I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for a gay athlete in Russia. It was hard enough to compete closeted representing the United States, a country that is considerably evolved on LGBT rights. It is unfathomable to consider what it's like for the Russian athlete - knowing that if you were to come out you could lose everything you've worked your entire life to achieve and then on top of that to be considered a criminal. It is both heartbreaking and heinous."

No one, anywhere on Earth, should be criminalized for their sexual orientation, and we need to stand up against this intolerance wherever it rears its ugly head, be it Africa or Russia.

We can’t let this type of persecution happen, again.

Oprah Winfrey, on the N-word:

"You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it. … I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree."

Y'all know I have my issues with O, but I gotta hand it to her this time.

Heartbreaking. Succinct. To the point. Perfect.

John Baird, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the proposed boycott of the Winter Olympics in Russia due to their anti-LGBT laws:

"As concerned as we are about the Olympics, that's nothing. That's two, three, four weeks for the athletes and participants and the visitors. This mean-spirited and hateful law will affect all Russians 365 days of the year, every year. It is an incitement to intolerance, which breeds hate. And intolerance and hate breed violence. We wanted more than a verbal commitment to the IOC. And now the comments by the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, are of deep concern. The Olympics is a great celebration of international sport, of international co-operation. This type of law being enforced flies in the face of the entire Olympic spirit."

Baird, like many, hope the controversy now, will lead to an end of the laws in Russia. But what do we do if the games arrive and the laws haven’t changed?

Particulate in the name of the LGBT community and risk some kind of international incident, and sweep the whole mess under the rug.

Or, do we stay away, which only serves to punish the athletes who’ve trained for years to be there?

Cheyenne Jackson, on how he felt about being an out gay man having to issue a statement about his divorce:

“Yes, it is weird. But it’s a fact. And you just have to accept the way things are. Sometimes I think I am a little naïve to think that people even care, but they do. So you have to understand the significance that your relationship had to other people and I know that our marriage meant a lot to a lot of people…so that’s not lost on me, and I respect that…I didn’t want to have to say anything. The royals, the monarchy over in England always say ‘Never complain, never explain.’  And so I’d love to adhere to that, but the fact of the matter is, I did have to say something.  It was getting a little ugly, and my sister and brother were like ‘What’s up?’ So, it is kind of weird to have to make a statement about it….and Monte [Lapka] and I talked about it and decided what we wanted the statement to say…and it was nobody else’s business….yes, it is weird, but it is a fact.”

One part of equality is that gay couples will divorce, just like straight couples. And, if you’re an out celebrity, your divorce becomes fodder just like a straight couple.

Equality is equality, the good and the bad.

Matthew Mitcham, out gay Olympic champion diver, on the controversy over gay athletes and the Sochi 2014 Games:

"It's really sad. The way they are persecuting people in Russia is quite horrific...The Olympics is the best experience you will ever have as an athlete. Their whole memory and experience is going to be marred by this stuff. They are going to be made to feel unacceptable, inappropriate, and it is a really awful, awful feeling. The Olympics are supposed to be somewhere where they can go to be relieved of that feeling. A place where you can compete and feel that gender and sexuality is not an issue."

Again, how do we handle this? Does Russia get a pass during the games and then we go back to trying to change their laws? Or do we stand up and say No, we won’t be there?

Or, do we go, and stand proud, from every country around the globe, and show the Russian government and the Russian people that the LGBT community does not deserve the vile treatment they are receiving?

Stephen Colbert, on his, and the media's, confusion about the extent and severity of the recent terror threats:

"Without any details, I'm not even sure how panicked I'm supposed to be. At least during the Bush years I could look at this helpful chart and know that my sphincter tightness was orange. But even that's gone now because Obama gave all those colors to the gays for their rainbow."

Just a giggle, but then a question? How come the Rainbow Flag became a part of the terror alert system?

Do I thmell a conthpiracy?

Frank Bruni, for the NYT, on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi:

"Imagine this: it’s the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. A huge television event, watched the world over. The American Olympians join the proud march of nations. They’re our emissaries, our exemplars. And as the television cameras zoom in on Team U.S.A., one of its members quietly pulls out a rainbow flag, no bigger than a handkerchief, and holds it up. Not ostentatiously high, but just high enough that it can’t be mistaken. Another American follows suit. Then another, and another. Within minutes the flags are everywhere in the American delegation, subtly recurring bursts of color and of honor, a gay-rights motif with a message: we’re here in Russia to compete, but we’re not here in Russia to assent. We have gay sisters. Gay brothers. Gay neighbors and friends and fans and probably teammates, and we reject the laws of a land that deems it O.K. to arrest them for speaking their truth or us for speaking up for them." 

I’d like to see that, and not just from the American delegation, but from every athlete. Imagine a sea of Rainbow Flags walking through that stadium.

It’d be a beautiful, powerful, message.

Stephen Fry, in an open letter to the IOC and British Prime Minister David Cameron, on the homophobic new laws in Russia:

"I am gay. I am a Jew. My mother lost over a dozen of her family to Hitler's anti-Semitism. Every time in Russia (and it is constantly) a gay teenager is forced into suicide, a lesbian 'correctively' raped, gay men and women beaten to death by neo-Nazi thugs while the Russian police stand idly by, the world is diminished and I for one, weep anew at seeing history repeat itself. 

'All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,' so wrote Edmund Burke. Are you, the men and women of the IOC going to be those 'good' who allow evil to triumph? The Summer Olympics of 2012 were one of the most glorious moments of my life and the life of my country. For there to be a Russian Winter Olympics would stain the movement forever and wipe away any of that glory. The Five Rings would finally be forever smeared, besmirched and ruined in the eyes of the civilised world."

As I said at the beginning, we cannot let this happen, again.

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I Didn't Say It ...

Rachel Maddow, on the Republican Party needing to make some tough decisions regarding their positions on LGBT issues:

"You apparently cannot support something like non-discrimination for gay people and have any future in Republican Party politics. Nobody who has any real prospects of being a national leader in Republican politics in the next few years has anything other than 100% anti-gay policy position on something like non-discrimination... And that is awkward given that the country, as a whole, is in a really, really different place than that."

Listen up, Marco, Rand, Frothy, or you’ll be sitting on the sidelines again when another Democrat takes the White House.

Michele Bachmann, claims the GOP is dead should immigration legislation pass:

"We will never again have a Republican president — ever — if amnesty goes into effect. We will perpetually have a progressive liberal president, probably a Democrat...You will never again be able to see our country return to its constitutional foundations."

And the problem with that is ...... ?

Lindsey Graham, our own Senator from South Carolina, and So Not Gay, says the GOP is dead should immigration reform not pass:

"If we don’t pass immigration reform, if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016.  We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party, and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who will run, in my view."

Even the GOP cannot agree on what the GOP should do.

This is gonna get good, y’all!

Barack Obama, at his annual LGBT Pride Month reception at the White House:

"In 34 states, you can be fired just because of who you are or who you love. That's wrong. We've got to change it. There's a bipartisan bill moving forward in the Senate that would ban discrimination against all LGBT Americans in the workplace, now and forever. We need to get that passed. I want to sign that bill. We need to get it done now. And I think we can make that happen -- because after the last four and a half years, you can't tell me things can't happen."

If we are all believed to be equal, then we should all be treated equally, especially in the workplace.

Max Baucus, the Democratic Senator from Montana, on ENDA:

"When it comes to the workplace, it is unacceptable for anyone to be fired simply because of their sexual orientation. ENDA will help protect workers from this type of discrimination and I look forward to moving forward on this legislation in the Senate as soon as possible. Members of the LGBT community are our neighbors, brothers, sisters and friends. They are community leaders who bring the kind of diversity to our nation that makes it strong. We all have a role in making sure that Pride Month is not just something we check off on the calendar. 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness' for all Americans is what we are called to strive for every day of the year."

Okay, so Montana’s on board, let’s get this done because the right thing to do will always be the right thing to do.

Marissa Powell, Miss Utah, being asked about the income disparity between men and women at the Miss USA pageant:

"I think we can relate this back to education and how we are continuing to try to strive to .... figure out how to create jobs right now. That is the biggest problem and I think especially the men are, um, seen as the leaders of this so we need to try to figure out how to create education better so that we  can solve this problem."

I think beauty pageant contestants should just stick to saying they want Whirled Peas.

Michael Burgess, Republican Congressman from Texas, on his support of a federal abortion ban because, um, he saw a fetus masturbate: 

“There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks,” said the former OB/GYN during the House Rules Committee debate on the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” he continued. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?”

Fetuses masturbating?

Oh. Texas.

That’s all.

Frank Bruni, on the Vatican’s ‘gay lobby’:

"I have many questions for and about the 'gay lobby' in the Vatican, but I’ll start with this: How can you be so spectacularly ineffective? You wouldn’t last a minute on K Street; the Karl Roves of the capital would have you for lunch. Despite your presence in, and presumed influence on, the upper reaches of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, church teaching still holds that homosexuality is disordered, and many church leaders still send the preposterously mixed message that while gay and lesbian people shouldn’t be admonished for, or ashamed about, their same-sex attractions, they should nonetheless elect cold showers over warm embraces. Look but don’t touch. Dream but don’t diddle."

I imagine the Gay Lobby has been in the Vatican since the Vatican was first built, and yet they’ve accomplished nothing regarding the teachings of the Bible and homosexuality.

Maybe those Gay Lobbyists in the Vatican are more interested in their own private times and not so much the rest of the LGBT world.

Jeb Bush, former Florida Governor, on how the GOP should "sound" inclusive but stick to their conservative beliefs: 

"I think we could focus on all our disparate parts, all of the points of disagreement that conservatives have and never win again. My general thought is that the focus ought to be on how you get fifty plus one, not how you win amongst forty-five. And that’s kind of where we are where everybody has a view that’s slightly different than one another and certainly social conservatives are a huge part of a winning coalition, which means that we have to change our language to be inclusive but not abandon principle. That’s not as hard, I think, as people make it out to be."

Wait, let me get this queer: Jeb wants the GOP to say they’ve changed but not really change. Be inclusive, while remaining divisive?

Yeah, that hasn’t worked so far, has it?

Serena Williams, in what appears to be an old interview, on the Steubenville rape case:

“Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don’t know. I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you: don’t take drinks from other people. She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky. Obviously I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.”

Wow. This is one of those cases where an athlete, while admirable for her skills on the court, should learn to zip it.

A drunken girl does not ask to be raped.

A girl dressed provocatively does not ask to be raped.

A girl who is not a virgin—and how in the hell do you suggest that she wasn’t—does not ask to be raped.

A girl who goes to a party is not asking to be raped.

By Serena’s warped logic, girls should wear potato sacks, stay home, remain virgins their entire lives and never touch alcohol, lest they encourage a group of over-indulged athletes to rape them.

Stick to tennis, hon.
PS Serena is back-tracking now:

"I am currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that i am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written -- what I supposedly said -- is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame."

Doesn't sound like an apology, it sounds like she's blaming Rolling Stone for what she supposedly said.
Just say, 'I'm sorry I said something so stupid.' Serena.

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I Didn't Say It .... The Jason Collins Edition

Jarron Collins, Jason Collins’s twin brother, on his brother’s coming out as the first openly gay, still playing, professional athlete:

"I won't lie. I had no idea. We talked, he answered my questions, I hugged him and I digested what he had told me. At the end of the day, this is what matters: He's my brother, he's a great guy, and I want him to be happy. I'll love him and I'll support him and, if necessary, I'll protect him. What does Jason want out of this? He wants to live his life. He wants a relationship, he wants a family, he wants to settle down. He wants to move forward with his personal life while maintaining his life as a professional basketball player. That's all, really. This announcement will be surprising to some people. I already anticipate the questions: 'Are you the gay twin or the straight one?' This is uncharted territory, and no one can predict how it will play out. It's a big deal -- but it's also not a big deal. When the media crush is over, Jason will have the strength to deal with whatever challenges come from being openly gay. Today, Jason has taken a huge weight off his shoulders. And I've never been more proud of him." 

Coming out is hard.
Coming out to your family, and wondering if they'll still love and accept is harder still.
Coming out to a twin, who feels about you like Jarron Collins does towards Jason, is a great, great thing.

Chris Broussard, of ESPN, saying Jason Collins cannot be gay and a Christian:

"Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the bible would characterize them as a Christian."

I think the Bible might characterize Broussard as a person who judges others, and yet, doesn't the Bible say something about not judging.
And, by the way, if The Gays were allowed to marry we wouldn't all be having pre-marital sex. And, again by the way, the Bible lists all kinds of sins, Chris; and I'm sure you commit some of those 'sins' and still call yourself a Christian.

Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times, on when gay folks will stop talking about famous people coming out:

"Many of us want to, and will: when a gay, lesbian or transgendered kid isn’t at special risk of being brutalized or committing suicide. When the federal government outlaws discrimination against people based on sexual orientation, which it still hasn’t done … When immigration laws give same-sex couples the same consideration that they do heterosexual ones. When the Defense of Marriage Act crumbles and our committed relationships aren’t relegated to a lesser status, a diminished dignity … When a Rutgers coach doesn’t determine that the aptly ugly garnish for hurling basketballs at his players’ heads is the slur 'faggot. When professional football scouts don’t try to ascertain that potential recruits are straight … When an athlete like Collins can be honest about himself without he and his co-author having to stress that he’s a guy’s guy, a godly man, someone who stayed mum about himself before now precisely so he wouldn’t disrupt his teams or upset his teammates, someone who’s inhabited locker rooms for 12 seasons already without incident … When a gay person’s central-casting earnestness and eloquence aren’t noted with excitement and relief, because his or her sexual orientation needn’t be accompanied by a litany of virtues and accomplishments in order for bigotry to be toppled and a negative reaction to be overcome."

One day it'll be no big deal.
One day it'll just be.

Ellen DeGeneres, on Jason Collins’ coming out:

"I applaud you Jason Collins, I applaud you. That is a very brave man. I would high-five you but I don’t think I can reach you. But when I see you, I am gonna hug your knees so hard. So, so brave. Really, you’re an incredible role model. Because of you, there’s a little boy playing basketball right now who knows that he can be who he is and play the sport that he loves. Now that little boy’s only obstacle is that he’s gonna be 5’4” and terrible at basketball. But you’ve done your part." 

As I always say, one person, any person, famous or not, coming out, makes a difference. You might not know it because it won't make the news, but every time once of us comes out, the world changes for the better.

Bryan Fischer, of the ironically named hate group American Family Association, calling Jason Collins a sexual predator:

"I will guarantee you if the ownership of whatever team is thinking about bringing him back or thinking about trading for him - and they go to the players on that team and they say 'how do you feel about an out, active homosexual being in the same locker room sharing the same shower facilities with you' they'd say 'no way. I don't want that. I don't want some guy, a teammate eyeballin' me in the shower and my wife does not want that." 

I find it funny how much time and energy people like Bryan Fischer fantasize and sermonize about gay sex. Methinks he's a little too interested in it.
And, for the record, Jason Collins was gay last year, and showering with other men, and I didn't hear any uproar about him "eyeballin" the other men. Maybe it's because he's less obsessed with gay sex than Bryan Fischer.
And, lastly, Fischer is such a troll he need not worry about any man, gay or straight, trying to eye his balls.

Martina Navratilova, openly gay tennis legend, on Jason Collins’ coming out:

“When I came out, in 1981, I didn't have much public support and I know I lost endorsements. But I never had to worry about losing my job. In tennis, there are no bosses, no general managers and no coaches who can keep players from competing. So I was safe in that regard. For team sports athletes, this is not the case. A homophobic coach at any level -- high school, college or pros -- could keep a player from playing. …Now that Jason Collins has come out, he is the proverbial "game-changer." One of the last bastions of homophobia has been challenged. How many LGBT kids, once closeted, are now more likely to pursue a team sport and won't be scared away by a straight culture? Collins has led the way to freedom. Yes, freedom -- because that closet is completely and utterly suffocating. It's only when you come out that you can breathe properly. It's only when you come out that you can be exactly who you are. Collins' action will save lives. This is no exaggeration: Fully one third of suicides among teenagers occur because of their sexuality. Collins will truly affect lives, too. Millions of kids will see that it is OK to be gay. No need for shame, no need for embarrassment, no need for hiding."

She's right: it was easier for her to come out, even 30 years ago, because she wasn't part of a team, and there wasn't that stigma of 'What will the team do?'
And she's also right that, while she lost endorsements, the tide is changing and companies will realize that a gay player is just as "ad worthy" as a straight player.

Andy Roddick, tennis star, and longtime crush, on becoming an LGBT Athlete Ally:
"Yesterday was an incredible day for athletes everywhere. Jason Collin’s courage and leadership in coming out reminds me of how important it is for an athlete to be able to be true to him or herself. As an Athlete Ally, I want to support every athlete to feel comfortable and confident being themselves and to make sure that all people - players and fans alike – are welcome and included in tennis.”

All I got is: he's hot.
And an LGBT ally, which makes him even hotter.

President Barack Obama, on Jason Collins' coming out: 
"I had a chance to talk to him yesterday. He seems like a terrific young man. I told him I couldn't be prouder. One of the extraordinary measures of progress that we've seen in this country has been the recognition that the LGBT community deserves full equality, not just partial equality, not just tolerance, but a recognition that they're fully part of the American family. And given the importance of sports in our society, for an individual who's excelled at the highest levels in one of the major sports to say, 'This is who I am, I'm proud of it. I'm still a great competitor. I'm still 7 foot tall and can bang with Shaq and deliver a hard foul.' And you know, for, I think, a lot of young people out there who are gay or lesbian who are struggling with these issues, to see a role model like that who is unafraid, I think this is a great thing. And I think Americans should be proud that this is just one more step in this ongoing recognition that we treat everybody fairly and everybody's part of a family and we judge people on the basis of their character and their performance and not their sexual orientation. I'm very proud of him."

It was a great and brave thing to do.
Being the first at anything is hard, but someone had to do it.
Thanks Jason.

Judy and Dennis Shepard, on the story that Jason Collins chose #98 to wear in honor of Matthew Shepard [it's the year Matthew died]:

“(Collins) couldn’t have been that old (when it happened), so it must have had a tremendous impact on him, the story behind Matt, for him to want to do that. And then to wear it all this time without telling people why until today, that’s incredible.”

We all take our steps towards coming out, and Collins choosing that number was a way to remind himself that his journey toward being out was on its way.

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I Didn't Say It ....

Henrique Capriles, Governor of Venezuelan state Miranda, responding to remarks by interim president Nicolas Maduro, who has hinted that Capriles is gay:

"I'd like to send a respectful and considerate message in rejection to the homophobic remarks made by Nicolás [Maduro] today. It's not the first time. I believe in a society without exclusion and that's the way I express it to the country. A society where no one feels excluded based on the way they think, their race, their creed, their sexual orientation. People should go out and reject it. That's fascism. Absolute fascism. From the extreme right. If that's how you want to attack me, let it be. But from here on I will always demand respect for all Venezuelans. Because the society that we want to build in Venezuela is a society without exclusion. You cannot talk of inclusion if there is exclusion. There should be overwhelming rejection of something like that."

Hopefully, Capriles is elected and this kind of ‘talk’ ends.

Louie Gohmert, Texas GOP Representative and complete asshat, on marriage equality:

“We’ve seen the total breakdown of the family over the last 45 years in part because of legislation that was meant to do well but it did harm. We’ve damaged the home. Kids suffer as well. The great thing about this country is, I have no problem with 100 people telling the Supreme Court that this is what they believe. But when you look historically, you see the nuclear family home -- mother, father, children -- break down, you see society break down, and you see a society, a civilization in decline, all under the name the name of advancement but it’s normally on the road to the dust bin of history. ... You’re breaking up the nuclear family, man, woman and children. It’s hard to argue biologically that is what nature intended or we would not have had a second generation on this earth.”

Hey Louie? Tell me how, with specifics, the family has broken down in the last 45 years and then please, again with specifics, tell me how The Gays are responsible.

That’s what I thought.

Madonna, presenting the Vito Russo Award to Anderson Cooper at the GLAAD Media Awards:

"[The bullying epidemic] is no different from a white supremacist hanging a black man from a tree before the Civil Rights movement. It's no different than a member of the Taliban shooting a young girl in the head for writing a blog about the importance of female education. It's no crazier than an Iranian gay man being hanged for falling in love with a man. I don't know about you, but I can't take this sh*t anymore. That is why I want to start a revolution. Are you with me? It's 2013, people. We live in America -- land of the free, home of the brave -- that's a question, not a statement."

While I sometimes take issue with Madonna, I gotta give it to her for speaking up, while dressed as a Boy Scout.

Anderson Cooper, accepting the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards:

"As a gay person, it's important for me to remember that all of us come from a community whose stories have for too long been forgotten and ignored, a community whose lives have for too long been ridiculed or misrepresented, a community that in spite of all that has found ways to love and to laugh and to care about one another, a community that has found ways to stand tall and stand up and make ourselves visible. I know that I'm only able to be on this stage because of generations of gay people who have come before and some of their names are known, but so many have lived and died in silence… Their lives never even acknowledged, their love hidden in the shadows, hands furtively held in the dark… I've had many blessings in my life and being gay is certainly one of the greatest blessings. It has allowed me to love and be loved; it has allowed me to open my head and open my heart in ways that I never could have predicted. The ability to love one another, The ability to love another person is one of God's greatest gifts and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with people in my life, with my family, my friends, and my partner Benjamin."

It’s kinda funny. We all knew Andy was gay—or at least secretly wished he was gay—and then he comes out and his whole life changes, opens up.

He can now speak honestly about who he is, what he feels, what he’s learned, endured, seen, and talk openly and sweetly about who he loves.

It’s a good thing, this coming out business. Plus, you know, you get a Toaster Oven and stuff.

Robert "Jazz Hands" Jeffress, the Texas megachurch "pastor," obsessing about how the gays have sex:

"I want you to think about this, one time in Heaven, God was sitting up there with his sketch pad and he said, ‘You know, I’m going to design human beings and wouldn’t it be fun if they started doing this together with one another?’ I mean, think about it. God dreamed up sex! He thought it up for our enjoyment! He gave us the equipment to enjoy it with. And here's how it operates. It should be between a man and a woman, and it should be in the security of a marriage relationship.... You know, in the instruction manual, it said, now plug this into a 120 outlet. Suppose I said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to follow those instructions, those are antiquated instructions. I’m going to plug it into a 220 outlet. It’s my TV and I can do whatever I want to with it. Well, it is my TV to do what I want to with it, but I’m going to blow that TV to smithereens if I put it in a 220 outlet!"

Pastor, you don't look like you have a 220 outlet. I’m sensing maybe, maybe, 40, on a good day. But you keep on thinking about a 220 outlet and what you might stick in it. I'm sure it keeps you all kinds of occupied.

Frank Bruni, on the new Pope:

"It’s time for the church to stop talking so much about sex. It’s the perfect time, in fact.  It’s on matters of sexual morality that the church has lost much of its authority. And it’s on matters of sexual morality that it largely wastes its breath. By insisting on mandatory celibacy for a priesthood winnowed and sometimes warped by that, by opposing the use of contraceptives for birth control, by casting judgment on homosexuals and by decrying divorce while running something of an annulment mill, the church’s leaders have enraged and alienated Catholics whose common sense and whose experience of the real world tell them that none of that is wise, kind or necessary."

To paraphrase, those who can, do; those who can’t, preach.

Michelle Shocked, "apologizing" for her 'God Hates Fags' onstage rant, saying, oddly, that she never said it:

"I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His followers believe that. [I was] predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted. The show was all music, and the audience tweets said they enjoyed it. The commentary came about ten minutes later, in the encore. I'm very sorry: I don't always express myself as clearly as I should. But don't believe everything you read on Facebook or Twitter. My view of homosexuality has changed not one iota. I judge not. And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks–not me–feel about gay marriage. Folks wonder about my sexuality, but denying being gay is like saying I never beat my husband. My sexuality is not at issue. What is being questioned is my support for the LGBT community, and that has never wavered. Music and activism have always been part of my work and my journey, which I hope and intend to continue. I am damn sorry. If I could repeat the evening, I would make a clearer distinction between a set of beliefs I abhor, and my human sympathy for the folks who hold them. I say this not because I want to look better. I have no wish to hide my faults, and–clearly–I couldn't if I tried."

Maybe Michelle should think before she speaks, and then, if misunderstood,  apologize before, before, her upcoming concert tour gets cancelled.

Had Shocked apologized immediately, maybe this wouldn't have gone so far, so, she has no one to blame but herself, and still, the fact remains that she said those things and kept saying them with no sense of irony.

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator, and confirmed 'bachelor,' on marriage equality:
“I’m with South Carolina. I believe in traditional marriage — between a man and a woman, without animosity. I don’t mind if people are able to transfer their property, visit their loved ones in hospitals, but marriage to me, I’ve stayed with the concept of traditional marriage.”

He wants all the rights of marriage given to The Gays without calling it marriage; separate but equal?
Methinks Miss Lindsey has a secret.

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