Quotes from various sources

http://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/the-birdcage-2-1200445467/

 "In its expertly judged sense of farce, surprising humanity, success at sustaining a manic high-wire act and sheer self-confidence, the American comedy this new film most resemble is 'Tootsie'."


http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/November-2005/The-Gay-30S/


"The term 'gay' would not be in wide currency until the 1940s and 1950s, except as code to the cognoscenti. Homosexuals themselves used the words 'faggot', 'fairy', and 'queer', or they sometimes called themselves 'temperamental'."


"For a brief time in the late 1920s and early 1930s, similar scenes unfolded up and down the city, as a relatively open gay culture thrived in Chicago, with gay cabarets and nightclubs proliferating throughout the Near North and South sides."


http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Queer-Theory.html


“Queer theory comprises a diverse body of intellectual inquiry. It takes as its premise the notion that specific psychological, political, and cultural codes have elevated heterosexuality to the status of a sexual ‘given’. By revealing these codes and exposing their limitations, along with the unstable foundations upon which they operate and sustain their power, queer theory aims to ‘undo’ the heterosexual norm, and to extend the power of cultural presence and voice to sexually marginalised groups who do not adhere to the workings of heteronormativity.”


http://www.gvsu.edu/allies/a-brief-history-of-homosexuality-in-america-30.htm


"After WW2, thousands of gay and lesbian people were dishonourably discharged from the armed services, and many were simply dumped in port cities. At times, several hundred ex-service people were deposited in San Francisco per day. They could not go home in disgrace, so they stayed. At times, several hundred ex-service people were deposited in San Francisco per day. They could not go home in disgrace, so they stayed."


http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/milk--a-movie-stuck-in-the-closet-1513088.html

 "As a subject for a movie, Milk's story is far removed from the familiar topics of gay cinema. Certainly, his story is remote from anything that he could himself have seen. Until very recently, gay films ran along very clearly defined rails."