[ The Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act ] will treat domestic partners with the equity and fairness they deserve. —Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton ( pictured ) .
'This bill would establish a clear rule that the federal government will provide the same benefits to all its employees regardless of sexual orientation. This is not only the right thing to do, it is smart policy. This bill will treat domestic partners with the equity and fairness they deserve.' — Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, as she co-introduced the Domestic Partner Benefits and Obligations Act in late December. The measure extends all spousal rights to federal workers' same-sex partners —in areas such as health, long-term care and retirement benefits, and the Family and Medical Leave program—as well as spousal obligations in areas such as anti-nepotism and financial disclosure.
'New Hampshire's decision to recognize civil unions and grant gay and lesbian couples the same rights granted by the state to heterosexual married couples is an important step forward on the march toward equality, fairness and justice.' — Presidential candidate John Edwards in a Jan. 1 statement.
' [ I ] probably would let the military make that decision [ on whether to keep Don't Ask, Don't Tell ] . One thing I don't think you need is a president who's trying to tell the military how to run the military, other than set broad policy agenda.' — Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to CNN, Dec. 17.
'In high school, everyone was like, 'I wanna be a doctor!' I was like, 'I wanna be on Survivor.' And I did it! So now I'm like, cool, I'm 22 and my goals are accomplished. What next? There's always a possibility of going back to college, but it's a possibility of not knowing what to go into, ultimately.' — Openly gay Utahan Todd Herzog, winner of the most recent season of TV's Survivor, to the gay newspaper QSaltLake, Jan. 3.
'We [ Barry Manilow and I ] were both so happy to have a gig that, you know, we didn't care because it was, you know, the guy was really nice to us and he was paying us what was really good money in those days, which was like $300 a night. I mean, that was an extraordinary amount of money in those days and we were just, like, we didn't care. We would have, you know, been at the zoo singing, we didn't care. We were just thrilled. ... I know people expect me to have been, you know, appalled and stunned and all that stuff. I mean, maybe they're surprised that I was so blasé. ... I had seen plenty by that time, so, I have to say, it was not a big surprise. I had a great time. They were great to me and I had a chance to learn all these songs and play all these songs and move into the mainstream, and it was just like a dream come true.' — Bette Midler on performing in gay bathhouses in the 1970s, to TheStripPodcast.com, Jan. 10.
'Don't tell me I don't read! I scan the obits every day to look for apartments. And I regularly devour the less challenging parts of the National Enquirer and some of the lighter profiles on BigMuscle.com . Oh, and also publishers catalogues! They're much easier than actual books, and if you turn the page you really don't miss anything.' — Gay Village Voice columnist Michael Musto on his blog, Jan 10.
'Gay rights are inevitable. How long the road, how painful the journey, how expensive the struggle are the only details. And they are just details.' — Actor Harvey Fierstein to London's Pink Paper, Dec. 20.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
