'It's a very empowering thing to be able to preside over these ceremonies. We've been working on this for such a long time. ... I'm very happy to preside over all the ceremonies that I can.' — Comedian Margaret Cho, who got deputized and is performing marriages for her gay friends, to E! Online, July 11.
'You know, the old thing about if gays get married, then it somehow threatens heterosexual marriage? It just so doesn't track on any level, but then again, any sort of homophobia doesn't really track on any logical level. It probably comes largely from religion; if it wasn't in the Bible, they would not really have any leg to stand on—not that I consider that much of a leg.' — Bill Maher, host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, to the Portland, Ore., gay newspaper Just Out, July 3.
'It's one of the contradictions of contemporary gay identity that we clamor to join the mainstream while glancing back enviously to a time when we were unbound by its rules. But the decision of the California supreme court on May 15, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage, has finally put my misplaced and empty nostalgia into perspective. Because I now realize that the past is not a better place, no matter how downright dirty, sexy, and rebellious it was.' — Out magazine Editor in Chief Aaron Hicklin, in the August issue.
'It's ( same-sex marriage in the U.S. ) way overdue. It's something that happened ... almost without a whisper in England, but it was basically because we weren't that concerned about the word 'marriage.' Because ( the U.S. ) is a much more religious society, there are a huge number of people who want ( their ) unions to be part of something that they can place in their religion, so ( marriage is ) much more important here. I think that's why it's so long in arriving here, but I think it's fantastic, obviously.' — Singer George Michael to the Associated Press, June 18.
'The nature of being gay is that you are forced to challenge the general perception, otherwise you have to accept that something is wrong with you. Maybe that gives gay men the perspective that many have turned into art.' — Singer George Michael to the Los Angeles Times, June 29.
'That won't happen. ... The proposed amendment itself is blatantly unfair. I think people will not vote for it because it is so blatantly unfair. I do not think Californians will support using our constitution to treat people differently.' — Shannon Minter, lead lawyer for the gay side in the California same-sex marriage case, on the Nov. 4 ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to overturn the state Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, to Palm Springs' Desert Sun newspaper, June 6. The weddings began June 16.
'My audience has always been minorities that didn't fit within their own minorities—the original audiences for Pink Flamingos were hippie gay people that other gay people didn't like, and mean hippies that couldn't wait for punk to happen, even though they didn't know it was going to.' — Gay filmmaker John Waters to Seattle Gay News, May 30.
'San Diego is united in its outrage at the Manchester's funding of the initiative to outlaw marriage equality. I believe that all fair-minded San Diegans should take a stand against discrimination and boycott the Manchester Hyatt.' — San Diego City Council candidate Todd Gloria, speaking at a launch event for a boycott of the city's Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel July 10. The hotel's owner donated $125,000 to the campaign to amend the state constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage.
'If I'm in a room of 100 people it will be the guy that's giving me no attention that will get my attention. It's like that Morrissey song—'The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get'—he could have written that about me. I like a challenge.' — Boy George to Britain's The Observer, July 6.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley