I Didn't Say It.......

Madonna, to Ellen, on how she discusses bullying with her own children:

"We talk a lot about the importance of not judging people who are different. Not judging people who don't fit into our expected view of what's cool and what isn't. The concept that we are torturing teenagers because they are gay. It's kind of like I said earlier. It's unfathomable. It's like lynching black people or Hitler exterminating Jews. Sorry if I'm going on a rampage right now but this is America. The land of the free and the home of the brave. I can totally relate to the idea of feeling isolated and alienated. I was incredibly lonely as a child, as a teenager. I have to say I never felt like I fit in in school. I wasn't a jock. I wasn't an intellectual. There was no group that I felt a part of. I just felt like a weirdo...It wasn't until my ballet teacher who was also gay took me under his wing and introduced me to a community of artists of other unique individuals who told me it was good and okay to be different and brought me to my first gay disco and ironically made me feel I was part of the world and it was okay to be different."

It's nice to hear Madonna speak out on this issue since she has been such a gay icon for lo these many years.
But the cynic in me hopes this doesn't get to be a celebrity trend, you know, denounce bullying while the topic is hot and then move on to the next bit of bit news.

Barney Frank, on hope for the future of LGBT rights bills:

"Next year there’s no chance of anything happening. There’s zero chance. We got five Republican votes out of 179 to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ The Republicans have become much more anti-gay in their voting patterns. There is zero chance of anything good happening with Republicans in control of the House."

I am not usually a pessimist, but I am worrying too about the future of equality.

I don't want our struggle to stop, or take a detour or be forced to turn around.

That's why we need voices and votes.

That's why we need every single gay person in this country to some out.

What's best for some of us is best for all of us.

Jim Carrey, on bullying:

"This is a horrible thing to be bullied, and to feel like an outcast is a terrible thing. It's just so an old thing, an old antiquated way of thinking that you can't have anymore. It doesn't belong in the new paradigm...Anybody who bullies anybody for any reason is no friend of mine. Frankly, I can't imagine hitting a human being for any reason except self-preservation, if I was attacked. Your sensibilities are different when you're a school kid and there's gang mentality, but it ain't cool. Some of the most valuable people in my life are gay. People that bring magical, amazing gifts and contributions to my life. I would say to kids out there when they're engaging in these kinds of isolations of people, someday you're going to want those people in your life. You're going to need those people in your life, and you're not going to want that on your conscience."

See, this is why my cynicism comes into play.

Carrey is talking about bullying while promoting a movie he has coming out in which he plays a gay man. It leads me to wonder if this statement is from his heart, or for his wallet.

Darren Criss, Hottie Boy, and Proud Gay, Blaine, on Glee, about his storyline with Kurt, and the chance of a kiss:

"Honestly? That would be the coolest thing ever! If you’re going to have a kiss like that on TV it might as well on the biggest show on television. Go big or go home. It’s really fun to get all 'aw, who’s going to kiss who?' I don’t know. I’m more concerned about the characters and them finding what they need, or what they deserve. If they do end up having some kind of romance or intimacy, but that isn’t going to be what’s going to be awesome about whatever relationship they end up having. I’m really happy right now that Kurt has a friend that he feels he can relate to, someone who is out and proud of it."

This actor has recently come out as a straight man because, while he wanted to answer that his orientation was no one's business, he knew people would assume it meant he was gay. And he didn't want to hide his heterosexuality.

But his compassion for the story, and his hope for the story, is really sweet and lovely.

He's just a gay straight man, I guess.

Cher, on being Cher for so long:

“I feel like a bumper car. If I hit a wall, I’m backing up and going in another direction. And I’ve hit plenty of fucking walls in my career. But I’m not stopping. I think maybe that’s my best quality: I just don’t stop.”

And that's what I love about Cher.

People said she couldn't sing, and yet there are a string of Number Ones that beg to differ.

People said she wasn't a real actress but there are Oscar nominations, and Tony nominations, and a real Oscar that belie their claim.

People said her career was over, and yet, here she is, back again.

What an example: Just Don't Stop.