Nuggets & bites

"For the anti-gay marriage activists, homosexuality is something to be fought, not tolerated or respected.... They see homosexuality itself as a kind of disease, one that afflicts not only individuals but also society at large and that shares one of the prominent features of a disease: It seeks to spread itself."

--From "What's Their Real Problem With Gay Marriage? (It's the Gay Part)" by Russell Shorto, in The New York Times Magazine, June 19

"I now fly into a rage at any mention of Tom Cruise. If he had jumped around on Oprah's couch and said he was in love with John Travolta and they were leaving Scientology to open a hair salon, I'd be mildly interested. But I don't care whether he loves Katie Holmes. what it all means, or whether anyone sees their Batman movie."

--Los Angeles Times commentator Steve Lopez, in his June 22 Points West column

"Professor [Aquilino] Polaino told the [Spanish] senate's Justice Committee that homosexuality was caused by 'a hostile, distant, alcoholic, or violent father ... or an overprotective, cold, and demanding mother.' Homosexuals, he said, 'did not play games as children ... may have suffered sexual abuse ... are more likely to be promiscuous, take drugs, and suffer from schizophrenia.'"

--From a report in The [U.K.] Independent, on Spain's debate over marriage equality, June 23

"Every time [Ed] Klein describes anyone female in Hillary Clinton's circle [in his book The Truth About Hillary], you hear the clump clump clump of stereotypelesbian footwear. Melanne Verveer, her White House East Wing chief of staff, is 'dark haired and mannish-looking' ... while the orientation of the Hillary-driven picks for Cabinet appointments, Donna Shalala and Janet Reno, 'are shrouded in deep ambiguity" (not)."

--Tina Brown, writing in The Washington Post, June 23

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