"To us old-timers the argument for Proposition 8 was a blast from the past, a throwback to the evil theocratic Save-the-Children bullshit that Anita Bryant was spewing over thirty years ago. Why, then, was our response so maddeningly weak-kneed and closeted? Why didn't you see images of gay people in any of our ads—or even the word 'gay,' for that matter? Are we that ashamed of ourselves? The answer is no, thankfully; most of us aren't. And a growing number of young people have lost patience with the black-tie silent-auction-A-gay complacency of the organizations that claim to be fighting for our rights but don't want to ruffle feathers. These new kids are friending each other on Facebook ( whatever that means ) and taking to the streets on their own. My husband and I met a few of them when we picketed the Mormon temple in Oakland last month. They have love in their eyes and fire in their bellies and a commitment to finish this fight once and for all." — Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin in a foreword to the new book Milk: A Pictorial History of Harvey Milk.
"You commie, homo-loving sons of guns. ... For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect, and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone." — Sean Penn, accepting the Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk, Feb. 22.
"When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas, to California, and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am and that maybe even I could fall in love and one day get married. ... If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you, and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally across this great nation of ours." — Dustin Lance Black accepting the Academy Award for original screenplay, for Milk, Feb. 22.
" ( O ) ur greatest president may himself have had same-sex attraction and even acted on it, as the iconic Lincoln biographer, Carl Sandburg, intimated in 1924 when he wrote of Lincoln's 'streaks of lavender.' In 2005, C.A. Tripp's Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln marshaled accounts of Lincoln's relations with men such as Captain David Derickson, including a November 1862 diary entry by the wife of the assistant secretary of the Navy that reads, 'There is a Bucktail soldier here, devoted to the President, drives with him, and when Mrs. L is not home, sleeps with him. What stuff!'" — Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson writing at The Huffington Post, Feb. 11.
"This is not about us anymore. If the ( California ) Supreme Court lets us stay married it will be a hollow victory because we do not want to be the only ones on the freedom train. The Supreme Court needs to rule to overturn Prop 8 because what Prop 8 does—for the first time in American history—is take a group that is being considered equal by the Supreme Court out of the constitution. That is dangerous because that means that 51 percent or 52 percent of people can vote to take you out of the constitution." — Robin Tyler, one half of the first same-sex couple married in Southern California, as she and wife Diane Olson renewed their vows at the Beverly Hills courthouse on Feb. 13, Freedom to Marry Day.
"The mini-sized payout the jury awarded for emotional distress to the firefighters speaks volumes about the so-called notion that they endured severe or pervasive trauma while wearing earphones, sitting six feet off the ground inside a fire truck with the windows rolled up and a roaring diesel engine powering them along a one-mile parade route. This is the same parade route followed by hundreds of public safety and law enforcement officers annually who are unconditionally welcomed with applause by cheering crowds." — San Diego LGBT Pride Executive Director Ron deHarte on Feb. 19 after a jury awarded four firemen a total of $34,300 for the sexual harassment they experienced when forced to drive their firetruck in the city's 2007 gay pride parade. The men claimed they saw barely clothed men simulating sex acts and engaging in public displays of affection. They also said parade-watchers shouted lewd remarks at them and made vulgar gestures. As a result, they suffered headaches, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome, among other stress-related maladies, they said.
"Are you sick of hearing about the 'social networking' phenomenon, all those Web 2.0 companies with geeky-sounding names like Facebook and MySpace and Twitter and Tumblr and LookSpaceBookFeedPlaceWad, sites where 'friends' flock together like flies to cow eyelids and everyone's young and cute and funny and jacked-in to the cultural zeitgeist, but you have no idea what it all means or why you're supposed to care because you have, you know, a real life, yet you still have this nagging feeling that a potentially rich, exciting aspect of the culture is passing you by like an ice cream truck in summer?" — San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford, Feb. 18.
"Homosexuals are people, too" — Headline on a letter to the editor in the Casper ( Wyo. ) Star-Tribune, Feb. 18.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley