“Well, obviously, I’m not allowed to speak about the legal battles, but I love lesbians.”

— Jennifer Nettles of Atlanta superstar country group Sugarland, responding to this question: “Let’s talk about the legal battles that you had with ex-member Kristen Hall [who is gay], who sued you last year for profits she said she was owed. Did it leave a bad taste in your mouth for lesbians?” (South Florida Gay News, April 11)

“I wish that the success of ‘Queer as Folk’ and ‘L Word’ had spawned dozens and dozens of shows all across the TV landscape that had all kinds of gay characters.”

— NBC Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt, who was honored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation at its Media Awards on April 10 in Los Angeles (Hollywood Reporter, April 11)

“I guess you could say that I’m coming out tonight!”

— Country music icon Dolly Parton, who has at times been rumored to be gay despite her marriage to a man, presenting the GLAAD Award to NBC’s Robert Greenblatt, with whom she worked on “9 to 5.” (GLAAD.org, April 11)

“I feel like a ton, a weight, has been lifted. I don’t have to hide it anymore; I don’t have to be ashamed. There are times when I’m like, ‘Oh God, I’m literally coming out with this thing; I’m being open about it. What are people going to say?’ And then I have to encourage myself again. … Nobody can condemn me about it. There’s only one God.”

— Gospel singer DeJuaii Pace, of the Anointed Pace Sisters, who recently came out as a lesbian and appeared on the weight-loss show “Addicted to Food.” (TheRoot.com, April 2)

“We know that people from this period took funeral rites very seriously so it is highly unlikely that this positioning was a mistake. Far more likely is that he was a man with a different sexual orientation, homosexual or transsexual.”

— Kamila Remisova Vesinov, lead archeologist on a project that discovered a male skeleton, dated to 2900-2500 BC, buried in a way usually reserved for women. (The Telegraph, April 6)

“Dudes! I could be wrong, but I think that to have a ‘gay caveman,’ you need a skeleton that is both gay and a caveman. And this ain’t either!”

— John Hawks, an anthropology professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, joining other scientists in disputing reports of the “gay caveman.” Hawks argues the body is from the pre-Bronze era and there is not enough information to make conclusions about sexuality. (Madison.com, April 11)

Top photo: Jennifer Nettles of Atlanta superstar country group Sugarland (by Dana Tynan)