“Please spare me the 40-minute dissertation on how fabulous ‘Glee’ is. It’s 2010. You can just come right out and say you’re gay.”

— Comedian Bill Maher in his “New Rules for Emmy,” a humorous take on the Aug. 29 television awards broadcast (HollywoodReporter.com, Aug. 26)

“This church asks me to be in the closet about my sexual orientation and about my faith. I am a Christian lesbian pastor who marries heterosexual couples and lesbian and gay couples; I cannot lie about either part of me nor would I ask any pastor to do this.”

— Rev. Jane Spahr, during testimony in her Presbyterian Church trial for marrying same-sex couples. Spahr was found guilty and censured. (New York Times, Aug. 28)

“Basically I just felt like I was continually being told I was not worthy of being where I am because I’m a gay person. And I’m not supposed to be an actor. And I’m not a superhero.”

— David Yost, who played the Blue Power Ranger on the children’s show “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” on how anti-gay taunting on the set caused him to quit the hit children’s show in 1996 (Seattle Post Intelligencer, Aug. 27)

“I am not ultra-ultra-conservative on every issue. I actually support gay marriage.... I think the gay marriage thing would definitely surprise people.”

— “The View” co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who is often portrayed as the conservative voice on the talk show (Fancast.com via Metro Weekly, Aug. 25

“I always am confused why they don’t worry about shows that don’t have any gay characters on them. They should put some focus on them as well, but we’ll give the audience exactly what they need.”

— Eric Stonestreet, who plays Cam on the ABC series “Modern Family,” on how his character will finally kiss partner Mitchell on the hit show – but allegedly not because of a Facebook campaign and other critics clamoring for a gay kiss (E! Online, Aug. 23)

Top photo: The cast of Fox's hit television show 'Glee' (Photo via Facebook)