'Oh, I don't—I don't know, but I'm not one to judge and, you know, I'm from a family and from a community with many, many members of many diverse backgrounds and I'm not going to judge someone on whether they believe that homosexuality is a choice or genetic. I'm not going to judge them.' — Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin to ABC News, Sept. 12. Interviewer Charles Gibson asked, 'Homosexuality: genetic or learned?'
'I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me, as a Christian ... it's also a sacred union. God's in the mix. ... I would not ( support a constitutional amendment with that definition ) because historically ... we have not defined marriage in our Constitution. It's been a matter of state law that has been our tradition. Let's break it down. The reason that people think there needs to be a constitutional amendment, some people believe, is because of the concern that about same-sex marriage. I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage but I do believe in civil unions. I do believe that we should not—that for gay partners to want to visit each other in the hospital, for the state to say: 'You know what? That's all right' I don't think in any way inhibits my core beliefs about what marriage are ( sic ) . I think my faith is strong enough and my marriage is strong enough that I can afford those civil rights to others even if I have a different perspective or a different view.' — Barack Obama, speaking at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., Aug. 16.
'If elected, I would call on Congress to enact legislation that would repeal DOMA ( the Defense of Marriage Act ) and ensure that the over 1,100 federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally recognized unions.' — Barack Obama to the Washington Blade, Sept. 10.
'This may surprise people, but I find Barney Frank to be very accessible and Tammy Baldwin not.' — Veteran gay press journalist Lisa Keen, former editor of the Washington Blade, as quoted in the September issue of the gay press newsletter Press Pass Q. Frank, D-Mass., and Baldwin, D-Wis., are Congress' two openly gay members. The comment was made at the recent convention of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
'I have to agree. ( While ) very bright, articulate and knowledgeable, for whatever reason she ( Baldwin ) does not seem to like press interviews.' — Veteran Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. responding to Keen.
'I think there's a really good chance that Sarah Palin could be president, and I think that's a really scary thing. ... I think the pick was made for political purposes, but in terms of governance, it's a disaster. You do the actuary tables, you know, there's a one out of three chance, if not more, that McCain doesn't survive his first term and it'll be President Palin. ... It's like a really bad Disney movie. The hockey mom, you know, 'Oh, I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska' ... and it's like she's facing down Vladimir Putin and using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink. It's absurd. It's totally absurd and I don't understand why more people aren't talking about how absurd it is. It's a really terrifying possibility. The fact that we've gotten this far, and we're that close to this being a reality is crazy. Crazy. I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago. That's an important—I want to know that, I really do. Because she's going to have the nuclear codes. I want to know if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago, or if she banned books, or tried to ban books. I mean, you know, we can't have that.' — Actor Matt Damon on Sarah Palin to the Associated Press, Sept. 10.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
