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From homecoming queens to the head of the state department, women have said and done a lot this year, naturally. Here’s a look back at 2011’s headlines through what lesbians have said, or some things said about them...
“I need to say thank you tonight to Whitney Houston... because when I wrote ‘Born This Way,’ I imagined she was singing it because I wasn't secure enough in myself to imagine I was a superstar.” - Lady Gaga accepting the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, The Fame Monster, on February 13
“I’m the ugly sister. I’m the fat one. I’m the transvestite. I have had those mean things said about me at least twice a day for the last five years. It’s horrible, you know? But I can brush that stuff off.” - Khloe Kardashian on her famous sisters in LOVE magazine
“I want to finish serving my country.” - Former airman Mara Boyd faced a federal judge with 13 others for protesting “don’t ask, don’t tell” at the White House in November, in the Washington Post, March 17.
"I'd love to see their inbred faces when they open those thank you notes! Hopefully their jaws will drop so fast that their three remaining teeth and cro-magnon foreheads will plummet to the floor." - Comedian Lisa Lampinelli, who announced she would donate $1,000 to the Gay Men's Health Crisis for every Westboro Baptist Church member who protests her show
"I swear David Cameron's meant to be supporting equal rights. I just think if same-sex kisses are what he is prioritising and concentrating on changing, our country's in trouble." - Brooke Vincent, who plays a lesbian on British soap Coronation Street, tweeting about Prime Minister David Cameron, who considered restricting same-sex kisses on television to late-night viewing hours.
“The media attention has been stressful, but it has helped people take initiative on school climate issues that they may have otherwise avoided.” - Julia Blaha, president of the teachers union for Anoka-Hennepin, Minn. schools, which was thrust into headlines for poor treatment of LGBT students, and an high number of bullying-related suicides, in the Minnesota Post.
“It is part of our tradition and our culture to be inclusive, to accept people who may be different.” - Michelle Hansen, an attorney for the Suquamish tribe, which legalized marriage equality in August, according to the Agence France-Presse.
“I’ve got the best friends in the world. Some are politicians, some are health care providers, some work at non-profit organizations; and one happens to be a Grammy award-winning rock star. What we all have in common is a dedication to making a difference in people’s lives.” - Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur, announcing to the Baltimore Sun, that a fundraiser for her reelection campaign would be hosted by rocker Melissa Etheridge.
“A New Drug Has Been Developed For Lesbians With Depression. It's Called Trycoxagain..” - Comedian Katt Williams on Twitter, August 2
“In my eyes, as the father, I didn’t receive justice. My daughter’s killer is still out there.” - Michael Richardson, father of lesbian Mitrice Richardson, who settled with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for $900,000. She was arrested in Sept. 2009 and released by police in a remote area without a car, cell phone or wallet. Her body was found in the hills surrounding Los Angeles a year after her disappearance.
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"He called me one day, and he said that he wasn't doing well and he wasn't going to make it -- and will you tell the kids -- I get emotional. Anyway, it was sad because to think he was the father of America and he had to be in a closet." - The Brady Bunch's Florence Henderson on the loss of her TV husband Mike Reed to HIV in 1992
“I feel that gay people not being able to get married for generations, forever, meant that we came up with alternative ways of recognizing relationships. And I worry that if everybody has access to the same institutions that we lose the creativity of subcultures having to make it on their own. And I like gay culture.” - Rachel Maddow in The Hollywood Reporter
"They were chanting my name and it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had." - Rebecca Arellano, who was crowned as homecoming king with her homecoming queen girlfriend Haileigh Adams at Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, Calif.
“In reality, gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths; they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes; and whether we know it, or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a Western invention; it is a human reality.” - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressing the United Nations on America's stance on international gay rights
“... perhaps I was the wrong director to acquit some of the more sexually honest encounters between Shug and Celie, because I did soften those. I basically took something that was extremely erotic and very intentional, and I reduced it to a simple kiss.” - Steven Spielberg on directing The Color Purple in 1985, adapted by Alice Walker's acclaimed novel in Entertainment Weekly
“I sent one to Michele Bachmann. I told her to aim it at her husband and see what happens. Just saying. Have you heard him talk? Dear lord.” - Rosie O'Donnell sending a hypothetical “gaydar gun” to the Republican Congresswoman
“I think she’ll follow in the tradition of Mike Bloomberg, and of all the candidates, I think she has the most experience and the best philosophy to lead New York in these difficult times.” - Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch's endorsement of openly lesbian city council speaker Christine Quinn, who may put in a bid for mayor in 2013
“We talk every day about different families, and different types of people, and teaching respect, and kindness. That is the heart that beats in our home.” - Amy Weber, a Troy, Mich. resident speaking to Mayor Janice Daniels about how she and her wife teach their children kindness, after Daniels made a Facebook posting in June disparaging marriage equality.
“I feel that Gauguin is evil. He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it’s very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.” - Susan Burns, talking to police after she attacked Paul Gauguin's Two Tahitian Women (estimated at $80 million) at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. in April.
