Gay Today: Quote

Quotes & Quips

Compiled By Jack Nichols

Walter Matthau Remembers John Wayne

They say he had a very small pecker, but that didn't keep him from being a real he-man.

Walter Matthau-in the film Hanging Up

The FBI's J. Edgar Hoover Building

Is there a statue of his pumps out in front?

Al Hunt-"Capital Gang"-CNN, November 24

Famous Men Cry in Public

You have no choice anymore. The best boys are doing it. Crying, that is. Baseball great Mark McGwire, Kansas City Chief's coach Dick Vermeil, who cries before, after and even during games. Dan Rather, David Letterman, Walter Cronkite, Walter Mondale, Michael Jordan and even George W. Bush have all let tears flow in public.

Pam Harbaugh-"Go ahead and cry, Guys"-Florida Today, December 2

Those Wonderful Post-Taliban Freedoms

Pigeon flying is allowed again.

Christianne Amanpour-CNN, November 30

Is Bush Truly Fighting for Freedom?

Terrorists can kill Americans, but they can make only idle threats against our freedom. Leave it to our own government to deliver the knockout punch.

Tad Blair-"Terror on Trial: An American Test"-New York Times, December 1

Earth Firsters oppose Oily Profiteers

London-Environmental activists demonstrated at more than 300 Esso gas stations around Great Britain and Ireland Saturday, accusing the oil company of trying to sabotage efforts to prevent global warming.

Florida Today Wires, December 2

Tycoon Billionaire: Fearful of Women

(Howard) Hughes was a thin baby and a fussy eater. For as long as she could, his fretful mother inspected his underwear for signs of tapeworm. Hughes grew up frightened of women and resentful of intimacy. He abandoned his first wife, Ella Rice. He and the second Mrs. Hughes, Jean Peters, occupied separate bungalows in the grounds of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Eventually he left her, and when she followed him to demand why, he would not allow her in his hotel room for fear of germs.

The Economist-"Tissue of truth"-November 24

Boys will be Boys-Girls will be Sluts

Men are not only expected, but often encouraged, to be sexually active, while women are put down if they have sex outside of the narrow limits of marriage. As opinion surveys continue to show, premarital sexual activity is often considered a status symbol for males and a sign of "cheapness" for females. The most religious of people who would counsel that sexual activity is to be saved for marriage, are quicker to forgive and downplay male sexual activity for, again, "boys will be boys." Since this is often inseparable from conditioned male aggressiveness, sexual activity is seen as just another example of male aggression, if it is not blamed on female seductive wiles.

Robert N. Minor, Ph.D.-Scared Straight: Why Its So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why Its So Hard to be Human, published by HumanityWorks! www.fairnessproject.org

He Wrote 'God Bless America'

(Irving) Berlin could touch on a common chord of feeling…Often wistful but never bitter, his lyrics embodied a bedrock faith in hearth, home and country that transcended sentimentality. That faith was reflected in Berlin's own life. As many have written, he was a worry wart and a stickler in business. But he was also a family man and an ardent appreciator of the simple pleasures. Because America had been good to him, and he loved the country back with a childlike fervor. For Berlin the comforts of the home were inseparable from the homeland. Millions of Americans still cling to the dream that his songs made palpable.

Stephen Holden-"Not for Just an Hour, Not for Just a Day…But Always"- New York Times, October 31

Let Them Eat What?

I was heartened to discover that my suspicions about Marie Antoinette were well-founded: she probably had love affairs with women. At any rate, the people of France certainly thought so, as witness the multitude of pamphlets that appeared, some of them very pornographic, describing her relationship with the Princess de Polignac.

Lucile Desligneres-"The Queen Goes Courting"-The Gay & Lesbian Review, November-December, 01 2001.