Quote of the Week

"Getting married, there's nothing revolutionary about it -- it's something you do with the person you love."

— Mike McGuill, who has been married to his spouse, Jonathan Scott, in Massachusetts since August 2006, as quoted by The Boston Globe

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage."

— Maine Gov. John Baldacci, as quoted in the Portland Press Herald

Quote of the Week

"It is such an important statement, especially to young people, to say if you are gay, if you are lesbian, you are no different. You have the same rights."

-- Claire Ebel, executive director of the state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, April 30, 2009

Quote of the Week

"[The freedom to marry] is a civil-rights issue, and on that, the government has only one choice: to come down heavily in favor of the civil rights of everyone."

-- The Press Republican editorial board April 22, 2009

Quote of the Week

"We have all known the wrath of discrimination. We have all felt the pain and the insult of hatred. This is why we are all standing here today."

-- New York Gov. David Paterson, on the need for marriage equality, as quoted by The New York Times

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"There's only one thing truly equal to marriage, and that's marriage. Now is the time to give civil unions a respectful burial."

--Vermont Representative Johanna Donovan

Iowa Legislative Leaders: Iowa continues to be a leader in guaranteeing civil rights

IowaPolitics.com
April 3, 2009
This is a joint statement from Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy on today’s Supreme Court decision:

“Thanks to today’s decision, Iowa continues to be a leader in guaranteeing all of our citizens’ equal rights...When all is said and done, we believe the only lasting question about today’s events will be why it took us so long. It is a tough question to answer because treating everyone fairly is really a matter of Iowa common sense and Iowa common decency."

(Link)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I'm personally supportive of [marriage] equality for gay couples and I believe that it will happen over time."

— Steve Schmidt, former chief strategist for U.S. Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, as quoted in the Washington Blade

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I think we'll get to the point where we should be insisting that liberals support marriage. I mean, nobody believes that they're really personally against it. They're just being political. I'd rather have them admit that. I think it's now time to start pushing people on marriage."

— Congressman Barney Frank

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Our mission statement calls for the 'equality of rights of all persons.' Prop. 8 strip same-sex couples of a fundamental freedom, as defined by the California state supreme court. In so doing, it poses a serious threat to all Americans."

-- NAACP CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous in a letter to California legislative leaders

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We claim for ourselves every single right that belongs to a freeborn American, political, civil, and social; and until we get these rights we will never cease to protest and assail the ears of America. The battle we wage is not for ourselves alone but for all true Americans."

-- Manifesto of the Niagara Movement, which led to the founding of the NAACP in 1909

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Those of us outside the legislature should not be afraid to ask our representatives to do the right thing, and should do our part to help them do it, by talking about the injustice of exclusion from marriage and how government should help, not hurt, all families.”

— Evan Wolfson

Quote of the Week

“The practice of inclusion, even in defiance of social convention, the reaching out to outcasts, the emphasis on togetherness and community over and against chaos, depravity, indifference–all these biblical values argue for gay marriage.”

— Lisa Miller, Newsweek "Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy" (12/06/08)

Quote of the week

“The court already has found that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right; now it has the opportunity to fulfill its constitutional obligations to guard against the tyranny of the majority and to ensure that elections do not become vehicles of repression.”

— Los Angeles Times Editorial Board (11/20/08)

Quote of the Week

“I think it is unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end, because I think this will go back into the courts, this will go back to the Supreme Court, because the Supreme Court very clearly in California has declared this unconstitutional. It's the same as in the 1948 case when blacks and whites were not allowed to marry. This falls into the same category.”

— Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Los Angeles Times (11/10/08)

Quote of the Week

“It is my hope that everyone's valiant efforts will have a ripple effect that will carry us forth into a fairer future. 'The arc of the moral universe is long,' said Martin Luther King Jr., 'but it bends toward justice.' And because I have been witness to so many people who lent their support to this good cause, I am lifted up by them -- lifted up so high that I can see the end of that arc.”

— Prince Gomolvilas, Bamboo Nation (11/05/08)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Republicans believe deeply that government should be limited. Government has no business making distinctions between people based on their personal lives. That's why, as a Californian and a Republican who has held elective office at the federal and state levels, I will be voting No on Proposition 8. ”

— Tom Campbell, Reason.com (10/24/08)

Quote of the Week

“I got to do something this year that I thought I'd never be able to do…I got married. It was the happiest day of my life. There are people out there raising millions of dollars to try to take that right away from me. You've seen their ads on TV. They are twisting the truth and trying to scare you. I believe in fairness. I believe in compassion. I believe in equality for all people. Proposition 8 does not. Please, please vote no on Prop. 8.”

— Ellen Degeneres

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Although marriage and civil unions do embody the same legal rights under our law, they are by no means equal. The former is an institution of transcendent historical, cultural and social significance, whereas the latter is not.”

— Justice Palmer in the majority opinion on the Connecticut Supreme Court's decision upholding gay couples' freedom to marry

Quote of the Week

It is our fervent hope that Californians will reject this mean-spirited attempt to embed second-class treatment of one group of citizens in the State Constitution.

— The New York Times editorial board, 9/28/08