Pictured Christina Aguilera. Wockner Photo Service
'Americans have been tolerant of homosexuality for years, but now it's being stuffed down their throats and they don't like it.' — House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
'It is now clear that Tom DeLay has joined President Bush and Karl Rove in deciding that attacks against gay and lesbian families will be this year's election strategy.' — Eric J. Stern, the Democratic National Committee's Director of GLBT Outreach.
'[W]e've talked about from the very beginning when this issue arose, because some activist judges were seeking to redefine marriage, that this is a serious matter. The President believes very strongly in protecting and defending the sanctity of marriage. He has made it very clear that he is committed to doing what is legally necessary to protect and defend the sanctity of marriage. He believes very strongly that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and woman. And he recognizes that people may disagree on this issue, and he certainly believes it's important to respect individuals and—in that process. But the President is closely looking at these events as they unfold. You have the events unfolding in Massachusetts, with the activist judges seeking to redefine marriage. You have events he talked about earlier today going [on] in San Francisco, where licenses are being issued despite—or without regard for the law in California. There are some that [are] ignoring the law by taking actions in California. And so the President is troubled by these events, and he is concerned about the direction some of these events are headed.' — Press Briefing by Scott McClellan from the White House.
'At the end of the day I sleep well, and in life there is nothing more important than that. What matters is doing the right thing and being true to yourself and standing up on principle.' — San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to the Associated Press.
'A lot of people that I believed would be quite supportive publicly were not. A lot of people I never imagined, never could conceive, on any basis, would ever support the comments, they supported (me).' — Newsom on the lack of support from some Democrats.
'One of the chief arguments opponents have against same-sex marriage is that marriage is designed first and foremost to produce and shelter children. Naturally, we straight people don't have to conform to that standard. Infertile people, people who don't want to have kids, women who are past childbearing age: all of us get married as a matter of course, no questions asked. Unfortunately for those who rely on that argument, the barrenness of gay unions isn't accurate.' — Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen.
'Like the naturalized citizens who are expected to know more about America than those of us born here, gay couples are being held to a standard the denizens of Vegas chapels and divorce courts have never had to meet: to justify the simple human urge, so taken for granted by the rest of us, to fully and legally come together. Just as it's common to see an immigrant take the oath and then kiss the ground, the result of all this enforced soul-searching may well be a fervor that will honor an embattled institution. Gay people are being asked to form a more perfect union. In the process, perhaps they can teach us something that we casual citizens and spouses badly need to learn.' — Anna Quindlen.
'If the Vice President thinks gay relationships are such a threat to society that we need to amend the U.S. Constitution, then he needs to explain why a lesbian in a same-sex relationship is running his re-election campaign. Are we a threat or aren't we?' — Activist John Aravosis (of DontAmend.com and StopDrLaura.com fame) announcing the Feb. 13 launch of DearMary.com, targeting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's openly lesbian daughter, who disappeared from gay circles in recent months just as she was needed to help fight the same-sex marriage battle.
'[Queer As Folk actor] Bobby [Gant] and I are friends, and there's really no truth that we were dating. It's sort of interesting that the media grabbed hold of that and created a story where there was none. I believe we were in Us magazine recently as one of the 'breakups of the year' or something like that, and it was funny because we were never even together to be broken up.' — Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Kyan Douglas to Pittsburgh's Out, February issue.
'In Goodridge v. Department of Pub. Health ... the court considered the constitutional question '[w]hether the Commonwealth may use its formidable regulatory authority to bar same-sex couples from civil marriage.' ... The court concluded that it may not do so, determining that the Commonwealth had failed to articulate a rational basis for denying civil marriage to same-sex couples. The court stated that the Massachusetts Constitution 'affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals' and 'forbids the creation of second-class citizens.' ... The court concluded that in '[l]imiting the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage to opposite-sex couples,' G. L. c. 207, the marriage licensing law, 'violates the basic premises of individual liberty and equality under law protected by the Massachusetts Constitution.'' — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Feb. 4, insisting that the state must legalize full same-sex marriage, not just gay civil unions.
'The same defects of rationality evident in the [same-sex] marriage ban considered in Goodridge are evident in, if not exaggerated by, Senate No. 2175 [the proposed civil-unions law]. Segregating same-sex unions from opposite-sex unions cannot possibly be held rationally to advance or 'preserve' what we stated in Goodridge were the Commonwealth's legitimate interests in procreation, child rearing, and the conservation of resources. ... Because the proposed law by its express terms forbids same-sex couples entry into civil marriage, it continues to relegate same-sex couples to a different status. The holding in Goodridge, by which we are bound, is that group classifications based on unsupportable distinctions, such as that embodied in the proposed bill, are invalid under the Massachusetts Constitution. The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal.' — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Feb. 4.
'Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman. If activist judges insist on redefining marriage by court order, the only alternative will be the constitutional process. We must do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage.' — George W. Bush responding to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's Feb. 4 determination that the state must allow same-sex marriage not merely create gay civil unions.
'I think I'll let him [my husband] say if he would do that [support a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage]. I might have my own opinion, but I'm not going to tell you.' — Laura Bush to The New York Times, Feb. 7.
'No self-respecting gay person will be able to support President Bush if he wages war on the most basic civil right by the most devastating means possible: a constitutional amendment [to ban same-sex marriage].' — Conservative author Andrew Sullivan at AndrewSullivan.com, Feb. 5.
'Two women is way sexier than two men in bed. We have a better feel for our bodies. I'm no virgin. I love experimenting with my sexuality. ... All this 'do not touch' nonsense is not me.' — Pop singer Christina Aguilera to Britain's The Sun, Feb. 5.
