Pictured: Singer Pink. 'If necessary, I will support a constitutional amendment which would honor marriage between a man and a woman, codify that, and will—the position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they're allowed to make, so long as it's embraced by the state or at the state level. Let me tell you, the [Massachusetts Supreme Judicial] Court I thought overreached its bounds as a court. It did the job of the legislature. It was a very activist court in making the decision it made. As you know, I'm a person who believes in judicial restraint, as opposed to judicial activism that takes the place of the legislative branch. [If] judicial rulings undermine the sanctity of marriage ... we may need a constitutional amendment.' — George W. Bush, Dec. 16. 'The right says that our LGBT movement is engaged in a war to bring down Judeo-Christian civilization [but] they are the ones imposing war on us, and the constitutional amendment [to ban same-sex marriage] is the line in the sand. If that gets crossed, there will be people getting arrested in the offices of the people who are supporting this amendment. There will be marches in the streets. ... We definitely have it in us to make this ugly. I, for one, will be right there.' — National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Matt Foreman in a December interview with this column.
'It is really important that members of Congress and state legislatures hear that this [the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage] is as unacceptable of a thing as could possibly be done against the gay community, and that everybody who votes for this will never get a gay person's vote or a cent of their money ever again regardless of what else they do. The idea that we would amend the guiding document of our government to make gay people permanently unequal cannot be defended on any ground.' — Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Jon Davidson in a December interview with this column.
'A part of me just sits back and relishes when the religious right is foaming at the mouth and going apoplectic about it [the Supreme Court decision legalizing sodomy]. We should all smile a huge smile because it is just a matter of time. It is slipping quickly through their fingers. It is just a matter of time before we have full equal rights. It is just a matter of time before we have the full protection for our families. It is just a matter of time before we have gay marriage. They know it, they can smell the loss coming over the horizon. Our job is to bring it about as soon, as quickly and as strongly as possible.' — American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Anthony Romero to the Seattle Gay News, Nov. 21.
'Never mind that the Bible also advises that people who work on the Sabbath should be stoned to death (Numbers 15:35) and condones the beating of slaves 'since the slave is the owner's property' (Exodus 21:21). Somehow it's only the anti-gay bits that seem engraved in stone.' — Nicholas D. Kristof writing in The New York Times, Dec. 3.
'I have a partner, a wife, which is a strange word for me to use. I never really used it until I got sued. And you want to know why? If you are a heterosexual talk-show host and you're sued by a major corporation, anything you have said to your husband is privileged information. But if you are a homosexual talk-show host and you're sued by a corporation, anything you have ever said and/or written to your spouse, partner or wife is allowed to be entered into the record. It is totally unfair. And never in my wildest dreams—if you said to me, 'You're going to become an advocate for gay marriage,' I'd say you're on crack.' — Rosie O'Donnell on Sirius Satellite Radio's Michelangelo Signorile Show, Dec. 11.
'Kelli and I went to P-town for the first time after the [TV] show ended. And I was amazed at the place, because I didn't expect the feeling of community or family that was there. I was stunned. ... I was overwhelmed, literally. It's a little gay enclave on the ocean. ... And the feeling is love and peacefulness and acceptance. I got this feeling of community from the gay community that I hadn't really felt ever, because I really didn't get to do what normal people do when they come out. ... I feel like I missed something in that way. I do think that my pleasure in being involved in the gay community now is, it's huge.' — Rosie O'Donnell on Sirius Satellite Radio's Michelangelo Signorile Show, Dec. 11. Also in Windy City Times Dec. 24.
'The country was really taken over. It was a coup. This man was not elected, he sits in the White House and he's declaring war. That's a coup d'état. America should be in the streets picketing. And our boys and our girls, our teenagers and 20-year-olds, are off there killing people. And war begets war. ... You know, I don't believe George Bush is a bad man, but I do think he is dangerous for this nation and the world.' — Rosie O'Donnell on Sirius Satellite Radio's Michelangelo Signorile Show, Dec. 11.
'You started it! While I was on the show I would take frequent barbs or attacks or accusations or challenges, whatever way you want to perceive them, from some members of the gay community—yourself included—who felt as though I wasn't quite gay enough. And so, we exchanged e-mail, I met you ... and here we are. ... You know what? You've been a very interesting guy to get to know and I want to thank you very much. Because, truthfully, you're very intelligent, and I've read all your books and I think you're a good guy. Just remember this: A lot of gay boys don't play on sports teams, so they don't know that when somebody's sitting on the bench, in uniform, they're still on your team, even though they're not scoring the points. So don't hurt them.' — Rosie O'Donnell on Sirius Satellite Radio's Michelangelo Signorile Show, Dec. 11.
'Gay men having sex in parks was a manifestation of a period where there was no other way. When you were so outlawed it was our way of meeting.' — Playwright Tony Kushner (Angels In America) to the Raleigh, N.C., gay newspaper The Front Page, Dec. 5.
'I love Madonna; I'm a die-hard fan, I always have been. She was my god when I was eight, and she's hot. If Madonna came at me with her mouth open, I wouldn't know what to do. Honestly.' — Singer Pink to the British national lesbian magazine Diva, January issue.
'Do you want me to be a lesbian!? Wow. Well, I've been with a guy in a serious relationship for the past two years, but I do think women are very sexy ... so I don't really know how to answer that question.' — Singer Pink to the British national lesbian magazine Diva, January issue.
'You faggot! Yeah, you heard me. You faggot!' — Detroit Lions President Matt Millen to Kansas City Chiefs receiver Johnnie Morton in a post-game exchange at Arrowhead Stadium Dec. 14, according to Sports Illustrated. A day later, Millen lamented: 'I apologize to anybody that I offended with that remark. It's something that happened out of reaction. That's just not right. Again, I apologize for the whole thing and it was wrong on my part. It won't happen again and that's it.'
'Pride: Bursting With Fruit Flavours.' — The official theme of Toronto's 2004 gay-pride celebration.
'Some love relationships can be holy and some—such as those between members of the same sex—cannot.' — David Bianco (who recently changed his name to David Benkof), founder of the gay-press syndication service Q Syndicate, to the Jewish publication 'J' Nov. 28. Benkof says he no longer has sex with men.
'To abandon completely one party because they are not perfect on these issues right now would basically delay equality for decades. If you can show me a model for realizing full equality for gay and lesbian Americans ... without Republican support, I'm interested in seeing it. If you work within an institution, you change it.' — Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director Patrick Guerriero to the Associated Press, Dec. 20.
'It was a spiritual death. I was miserable. I couldn't enjoy life, I couldn't dream about the future, I couldn't enjoy friendships, I couldn't enjoy my relationship with my boyfriend. I was spiritually dead.' — Former ACT UP/New York poster boy Peter Staley on his recent crystal-meth addiction, now conquered, to Gay City News, Dec. 4.
'This very old dog has to learn a new trick and that is sober sex. For the addict, the crystal-meth addict, the path back to sober sex, if they ever did know how to do it, is a very, very hard one. The idea of sober sex has to compete with those memories of crystal-meth sex and it doesn't compete.' — Former ACT UP/New York poster boy Peter Staley on his recent crystal-meth addiction, to Gay City News, Dec. 4.
'The level of unprotected sex here [Ft. Lauderdale], one of the gay Meccas of the world, is astounding. It happens at such a high frequency that I am convinced it is the norm, not the exception.' — Syndicated gay-press columnist Mubarak Dahir, Dec. 18.
