Last Word
Quotes from GLBT-related headlines: lesbian student T-shirt ruckus, Nepal, Syphilis scare in Europe, marriage equality in Maryland, and the gay Mormon winner of Survivor
”I don’t feel like I should have to hide my sexuality.”
—Bethany Laccone, a student from I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Va., who was asked by school administrators to conceal a T-shirt depicting lesbian Pride, before the American Civil Liberties Union’s advocacy resulted in an apology from the school. (Associated Press)
”Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-sexual and inter-sex (LGBTI) people are also ‘natural persons’ though they are not masculine or feminine from the perspective of gender… they should be allowed to enjoy all the rights defined by national and international human rights law and instruments.”
—The Nepal Supreme Court’s decision to protect the rights of GLBT people in the conservative Himalayan state. (Hindustan Times)
”Syphilis used to be a very rare disease… I’m not sure we can say that anymore.”
—Dr. Marita van de Laar, an expert in Sexually Transmitted Diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, on the disease’s recent resurgence among gay men and other groups in Europe. (The Examiner)
”I think our two biggest challenges are political skittishness by some legislators and general ignorance about the issue.”
–Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland, on how Maryland’s same-sex marriage decision may split the state’s Democrats, as activists get ready to take their fight to the legislature. (The Gazette)
”It automatically causes people to judge, to be honest. If people want to know how I was raised, I’ll tell them. If people want to know who I am, I’m not afraid to tell them. I think the people who do judge me and say, ‘You can’t be both,’ are actually the sinners.”
—Todd Herzog, the flight attendant who recently won Survivor: China, on being gay and Mormon. (After Elton.com)
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