"Not only am I a single mother who's pregnant, but I'm also a lesbian mother who is pregnant and having a baby for two gay men. That might be startling to some." — Utah state Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, to the Salt Lake Tribune Jan. 8 on being impregnated by a gay-male couple she is close friends with.
"We do not expect to win at the trial level, but with God's help, at least five members of the current ( U.S. ) Supreme Court will have the courage to defend our Constitution from this grave attack." — National Organization for Marriage Executive Director Brian Brown in a Jan. 8 letter to supporters about the ongoing federal trial in San Francisco over Proposition 8. The case, featuring superstar attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, could lead to legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide.
"There are too many ( gay people ) in the world who don't worry about referendum battles, they worry about their lives. They worry about being murdered on the streets or murdered officially in the prisons, with or without judicial sanction. There are too many people in the world who don't have the privileges that we have, and if by my election and the media coverage and the dialogue around that, we can change one person's life in one of those countries, it would make everything worth it." — Houston's new lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, speaking to supporters in Houston on Jan. 3.
"We face two major challenges in 2010. We must simultaneously combat right-wing groups working against us, while pushing for faster and more meaningful change from Congress and the White House. And it's not going to be easy. From the outrageous lies used to end marriage equality in Maine and California, to the turncoats in the New York Senate who rejected marriage equality, 2009 showed us that we can't expect change to come to us. To put our 2010 game plan into action immediately, we must grow our ranks by 2,010 new members this month. Join HRC right now, and be a part of this movement. If you join as a new member with a gift of $35 or more, we'll send you this water bottle ( pictured ) as our way of saying thanks." — The Human Rights Campaign, Dec. 21.
"After Amanda Simpson became the first transgender presidential appointee ... talk show host David Letterman announced Simpson's appointment on his show and aired a photo of her. The show's announcer, Alan Kalter, then reacted to the news with disgust and mock horror, saying: 'What? Amanda used to be a dude? My God!' He hurried off stage to laughter from the audience, apparently to go collect himself after the shock of this discovery. ... By promoting unfair and cruel reactions to transgender people, the David Letterman Show is feeding an epidemic of discrimination and violence that currently faces transgender Americans." — The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Jan. 6.
"As a straight man I really have nothing to gain by standing up for equal rights for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual, and/or my Transgender friends. Except for the fact that I have many friends who are still subjected to hurtful comments by a society that hasn't yet embraced fully the nature of... nature. Supporting a limiting system of rules for specific people to follow is prejudice. It's the Antithesis of Christ Consciousness and ( like smoking ) it's Soooo last century. Allowing love to freely flourish will only enhance the life experience—For All." — Top-10 pop singer Jason Mraz on his blog, Dec. 31.
"We will not gag ourselves when it comes to gay porn stars, Manhunt profiles, sex clubs, three-way relationships, poppers, or all the other dirty little secrets of gay culture that the khaki-clad HRC clones are afraid 'the straights' will find out about and use against us to continue depriving us of our civil rights. Until they can deal with those things, they will only be tolerating us, not accepting us, so it's better to just get it out in the open now." — Gawker.com, Dec. 22, after the site was criticized for an item it published about a CNN iReport piece done by gay porn actor Collin O'Neal. See tinyurl.com/gawkprn1 and tinyurl.com/gawkprn2.
"Nice. New York now joining California in banning gay marriage. New York and California: the only two states in the country whose streets have disco rollerblading lanes. Not cool with gay marriage. Because New York and California aren't as progressive as Iowa!" — The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, Dec. 3.
—Assistance: Bill Kelley
