"The government is hiding behind the court to close the newspaper. It is sending a message to the media that it will not tolerate press freedom."
-- Al Massae editor Tawfik Bouechrine on the record fine -- 6 million dirhams, equivalent to $815,900 -- imposed against his newspaper for publishing an erroneous allegation that a Moroccan judge had attended a gay wedding story. (Reuters)
''Well, you know, if I was a girl and he was a girl, and I was a lesbian and he was a lesbian, I'd be all over him.''
-- George Clooney in Esquire on his Ocean's 11, 12 and 13 co-star Brad Pitt. Clooney also responded to gay actor Rupert Everett's derision of the Ocean's films as ''a cancer to world culture,'' saying, ''Dude, weren't you in Dunston Checks In?'' (Esquire)
''[A]ll I want from you today is to take the books off the shelves, so children can have a safe place to learn like I did years ago.''
-- Nampa, Idaho, resident Charla Tedeski in support of the local library's decision to move The Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex from shelves -- the books are now available only by request. According to the library, The Joy of Gay Sex has been checked out seven times in the past year. (KTVB News)
''Elton [John] has become a friend. I lost my son, and now I have these other friends. It seems wrong on some level. It's very disconcerting.''
-- Judy Shepard, speaking about the 10 years since her son Matthew's murder, during which her anti-hate crimes activism has brought her into contact with the powerful and the famous. (USA Today)
''I'm not gay-bashing. But according to God's word that is not the right kind of lifestyle.''
-- Oklahoma state legislator Rep. Sally Kern (R), defending herself from charges of homophobia after the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund released an audio recording of her telling supporters that homosexuality is a greater threat to the nation than terrorism. (Dallas Morning News)
''If I return to Iran I will be arrested and executed.''
-- Mehdi Kazemi, a 19-year-old Iranian who had applied for and was denied asylum in Britain, in a letter to the British government. Kazemi fled to the Netherlands, where a court ruled he must return to Britain under EU law. He now faces deportation to Iran, where Kazemi says his ex-boyfriend was executed by the government. (The Times, UK)
''In his absence, he's standing up one more time and showing people the way.''
-- Thatcher Bailey, a high-school classmate and friend of Ric Weiland, a founder of Microsoft who was gay and committed suicide in 2006. Though it took roughly a year to settle his estate, it's now clear Weiland left $65 million to GLBT-advocacy organizations. (Seattle Times)
''Gay is approved for copy and preferred over homosexual, except in clinical references or references to sexual activity.''
-- Erik Wemple, Washington City Paper editor, quoting a Washington Times memo that marks changes in the newspaper's policies, including no longer putting quotes around ''marriage'' when between two people of the same sex. The Times editorial desk confirmed the change. (Washington City Paper)
''It was a tough movie to watch. I've been with my partner for 30 years and it's always been an issue: What if one of us get sick?''
-- Sam Joseph, of South Orange, N.J., speaking at a West Orange Oscar-night screening of Freeheld, which won an Academy Award for best documentary short subject. The film follows Detective Lt. Laurel Hester, a county employee, as she struggled before her death against lung cancer and the Ocean County, N.J., freeholders to secure her employment benefits for her longtime partner, Stacie Andree. (New York Times)
''I am Iranian. I want to live here and this society tells you: You have to be either a man or a woman.''
-- Negar Askar, a transsexual Iranian, discussing her situation in a recent BBC report that finds that while Iran may punish homosexuality with death, the country is second only to Thailand in the number of gender-reassignment surgeries performed there annually, with the support of the religious hierarchy. (BBC)
''We are standing in the elections to fight the discrimination against our community. This is a very symbolic approach to tell all Nepalis that we have equal rights.''
-- Sunil Babu Pant, founder of Nepal's gay rights group, Blue Diamond Society, explaining why he and four other gay candidates are running for seats in that country's Assembly. Nepali law includes a ban on ''unnatural sex,'' punishable by up to a year in prison. (Reuters)
''You take something you love from me and you can damn well bet I'm going to take something you love from you, too.''
-- Jimmy Kimmel, addressing Matt Damon ahead of showing his special Oscar-night video -- a retort to girlfriend Sarah Silverman's earlier video, ''I'm Fucking Matt Damon'' -- called ''I'm Fucking Ben Affleck.'' Along with Affleck, a number of celebrities joined in, including Macy Gray, Joan Jett and Brad Pitt. (Boston Herald)
