Queer as Folk

I guess I am little late with the sentiment seeing that this series ended 5 years ago but I have to say I can not remember the last time I was moved and affected by a TV series like Queer as Folk. I got so involved with the characters, plot, and the issues raised about the gay community. The way they tackled them were so realistically fierce. All the issues about the gay and lesbian community were tackled head-on without apologies and without judgement. Name it and it was there - sex, drugs, aids, discrimination, hate crimes, marriage, adoption, civil liberties, etc. I was able to identify with all the characters at some level and it was such a joy to watch. Yeah, ok so I cried in some scenes too. But I swear you would to if you get to watch this religiously.

Ofcourse once I finished, I had to research about the show even more. I found tribute sites, tribute shows, and more about the actors who played the characters in the series who surprisingly were mostly straight! I also found out that almost half of the viewers of this show were straight women. Amazing! So what can I say? I admonish you to buy they dvd box set of Queer as Folk. Or I will be happy to lend it to you under one condition - that you promise to watch it from the pilot episode to the series finale. It would only be a waste not to.

So I shall leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the show.

Brian: [to Craig Taylor, Justin's dad] So in other words, for Justin to live here with you, he has to deny who he is... what he thinks... and how he feels. Well, that's not love. That's hate.

Brian: You stupid little twat, never let anyone fuck you without a condom.
Justin: You're not just anyone.
Brian: Yeah, I'm sure that's what Ben thought about the guy who infected him. Put it on me... I want you safe. I want you around for a long time.

Brian: We're queer. We don't need marriage. We don't need the sanction of dickless politicians and pederast priests. We fuck who we want to, when we want to. That is our God-given right.
Michael: But it is also our God-given right to have everything that straight people have. Because we're every bit as much human as they are.

[Ted's trying to get Brian to talk about losing both Michael and Justin]
Ted: You can't fool me. You gotta free yourself of this burden. Release it. Let it all hang out.
Brian: My mother was a frigid bitch. My father was an abusive drunk. They had a hateful marriage, which is probably why I am unwilling or unable to form a committed long-term relationship of my own. The fact that I drink like a fish, abuse drugs, and have more or less redefined promiscuity doesn't help, much. As a result, I've lost the two people in my life that mean most to me.

Melanie: I used to hate it when Brian would say, "There are two kinds of straight people in this world - the ones who hate you to your face, and the ones who hate you behind your back," because I knew that wasn't true, there are plenty of straight people who don't hate us. But the ones who do no longer have to do it behind our backs, they can do it in the White House, in the churches, on television, in the streets! Is that the kinda place we wanna live? Is that the kinda place we wanna raise our kids?

Brian: Remember what I said to you last night?
Justin: Yes, I heard. You said you love me.
Brian: Then how about marrying me?

[giving his speech at the Committee for Human Rights]
Michael: It's an honor to stand here today, considering a few weeks ago the doctors weren't sure I was going to make it. But I was one of the lucky ones. I'm here. And as terrifying as it was, I'd be there again to defeat a bill that would deny rights to Americans just because they're gay. I have a loving partner, two wonderful kids, a home, a small business. The truth is, I'm just like you.
[puts away prepared speech and speaks from the heart]
Michael: Actually, that's not the truth. Sure, in a lot of ways, I am just like you. I wanna be happy, I want some security, a little extra money in my pocket, but in many ways, my life is nothing like yours. Why should it be? Do we all have to have the same lives to have the same rights? I thought that diversity was what this country was all about. In the gay community, we have drag queens, leather daddies, trannies, and couples with children - every color of the rainbow. My mother's standing way in the back with some friends. My friends. She once told me that people are like snowflakes; every one special and unique... and in the morning you have to shovel 'em off the driveway. But being different is what makes us all the same. It's what makes us family.