"I want him ( Obama ) to succeed.But I am very upset by what he's not done in terms of rights of gays and lesbians. I understand it tactically in a campaign, but at this point I don't know. There is some belief that he actually doesn't believe in same-sex marriage. But it's fundamentally inexcusable for a member of the Democratic Party to stand on the principle that separate is now equal, but only on the basis of sexual orientation. We've always fought for the rights of minorities and against the whims of majorities." — San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to The New York Times, Jan. 19.
"Legalizing same-sex marriage would ... be a recognition of basic American principles, and would represent the culmination of our nation's commitment to equal rights. It is, some have said, the last major civil-rights milestone yet to be surpassed in our two-century struggle to attain the goals we set for this nation at its formation." — Federal Prop 8 case lawyer Ted Olson writing in Newsweek, Jan. 9. The trial in the lawsuit arguing that Prop 8 violates the U.S. Constitution began Jan. 11 in San Francisco.
"Another argument, vaguer and even less persuasive, is that gay marriage somehow does harm to heterosexual marriage. I have yet to meet anyone who can explain to me what this means. In what way would allowing same-sex partners to marry diminish the marriages of heterosexual couples? Tellingly, when the judge in our case asked our opponent to identify the ways in which same-sex marriage would harm heterosexual marriage, to his credit he answered honestly: he could not think of any." — Federal Prop 8 case lawyer Ted Olson writing in Newsweek, Jan. 9. The trial in the lawsuit arguing that Prop 8 violates the U.S. Constitution began Jan. 11 in San Francisco.
Yesterday at LAX, on the way up here, I was going through security. I removed my sunglasses and said, 'I want you to be able to see my beautiful eyes.' The guard said, 'Don't ever say that to another man.'" — Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs live-blogging the federal Prop 8 trial, Jan. 11.
"I have been so grateful for the opportunity in the national and international media to talk about Houston. Now, there was a split in the media. About half of the guys who talk to me ... said, 'Houston elected a lesbian mayor!' and the other half said, 'Houston did that?'" — Houston Mayor Annise Parker speaking to supporters in Houston on Jan. 3.
"The proponents of Prop. 8 seek to hide and obfuscate. They did not want their own ad played in court. They did not want documents from their own strategists to become public because the documents show clearly that their entire campaign was built on the decades of prejudice and fear that we heard about in detail yesterday from Prof. Chauncey. As Ted Olson keeps saying, their arguments do not hold up in public or in court. They only win when they can manipulate the media and the public, using scare tactics." — Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs live-blogging the federal Prop 8 trial, Jan. 13.
"Efforts to promote 'transgenderism' in public policy deconstruct one of the most fundamental concepts known to mankind. It renders gender, the most basic organization of social systems, completely meaningless. In doing so, activists like Simpson are asking the rest of society to radically reorder the ways in which the culture makes reasonable and rational accommodation for the two genders." — Focus on the Family spokeswoman Monica Schleicher objecting Jan. 5 to President Barack Obama's appointment of Amanda Simpson as senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, where she will monitor the export of U.S. weapons technology.
"The anti-gay-marriage proponents whipped up a moral frenzy ( in California ) in 2008, suggesting conjugal parity would harm children, summon the devil, tear down churches and melt civilization." — New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, Jan. 16.
"I've never been in. I've never said I was straight, and I'm not saying I'm gay now. I never lie, and I've never shied away from the topic. I've certainly chosen through my work to do things that promote the rights of LGBTQ people. I am not a hypocrite—certainly not now." — Ugly Betty actor Michael Urie, who plays Marc St. James, to The Advocate, February issue.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
