"I realized that I was, you know, over 60 years old, I grew up at a different time, and I was hung up about the word ( marriage ) . I had all these gay friends, I had all these gay couple friends, and I was hung up about it. And I decided I was wrong. That our society has an interest in coherence and strength and commitment and mutually reinforcing loyalties, then if gay couples want to call their union marriage and a state agrees, and several have now, or a religious body will sanction it—and I don't think the state should be able to stop the religious bodies from saying it—I don't think the rest of us should get in the way of that. I think it's a good thing, not a bad thing. ... I just realized that I was, probably for, maybe just because of my age and the way I've grown up, I was wrong about that. I just had too many gay friends. I saw their relationships. I just decided I couldn't, I had an untenable position." — Bill Clinton to interviewer Anderson Cooper, Sept. 25.
"Some of my favorite studies to blip across the news wires are always the ones that talk about adding years to your life, about how modifying this or that aspect of your diet or health regimen will either add or subtract a year, two years, a decade to/from your time on this pale blue dot. I don't quite get it. Are we really enthralled by such information? Is anyone thrilled at the rather obvious idea that if you stop snarfing a family-sized bag of neon-orange nuclear Doritos every damn day, you will die at a ripe old age of 92 instead of a sickly and pallid 89? Should we not be discussing the only thing that really matters: how you live and feel in this very moment, the one right here and now?" — San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford, Sept. 30.
"I love being gay. I love gay people. How can I say this without offending everyone else, I think we're better than other people. I think we are smarter. I think we are more talented. I think we are more aware. I think we make better friends. I think we make better lovers. I think we're more tuned into what's happening, tuned into the moment, tuned into our emotions, and other people's emotions. Yes, I think that gay people are better than other people. I think the only thing we are not so good at is fighting back." — Veteran activist Larry Kramer speaking at Dallas gay pride, Sept. 20.
"Yeah, it ( being gay ) would be ( a character flaw ) . And we are all born with certain character flaws, aren't we?" — New York Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan to New York magazine, Sept. 20.
"Just being out—to your family, to your friends, to the 42nd president of the United States—remains the single most important political action that any gay or lesbian person can take." — Gay writer Dan Savage, Sept. 25.
"Obama is a Nazi. Feminism is destroying marriage and the military. Obama is Kenyan. Obama is Islamic. There are Russian-style czars in the U.S. government. There is a secret plan to unify North America into one nation. ... These people are certifiable." — Writer Ann Rostow in the gay newspaper San Francisco Bay Times, Oct. 1.
"I would take Rush Limbaugh, because it would be very painful, and he would come with the painkillers which he always has." — Gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank on Sept. 21 when asked by Jay Leno, "If you had to have dinner with one of the following political conservatives, which one would you choose: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter?"
"Oh, easy: The ability to eat as much as I want and not gain weight." — Gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank on Sept. 21 when asked by Jay Leno, "If you could have a superpower, any power, what would it be, and why?"
"The guy who's now the governor of Alaska, because I miss Sarah Palin." — Gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank on Sept. 21 when asked by Jay Leno, "If you could kick one politician out of office, who would it be?"
"I was in Palm Springs in a very private pool. My boyfriend and I were out there doing a fundraiser and it was a very secluded spot and we didn't see any helicopters, so we went into the pool." — Gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank on Sept. 21 when asked by Jay Leno, " ( When is ) the last time you went skinny-dipping?"
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
