GLT » Quote UnQuote

commentary

Quote UnQuote

Compiled by Rex Wockner

Published Thursday, 10-Jul-2003 in issue 811

“We got a couple of breaks in the last few weeks, with Canada legalizing gay marriage and now the Supreme Court [decriminalizing gay sex]. It looks like Sandra Day O’Connor watching ‘Will & Grace’ really paid off.”

— San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano to the Associated Press, June 29.

“Oh, you’re one of the sodomites! You should only get AIDS and die, you pig! How’s that? Why don’t you see if you can sue me, you pig? You got nothing better than to put me down, you piece of garbage? You got nothing to do today? Go eat a sausage and choke on it. Get trichinosis.”

— Former MSNBC talk show host Michael Savage to a gay man who phoned the ‘Savage Nation’ TV program July 5. MSNBC canceled the four-month-old show two days later.

“Antonin Scalia is Archie Bunker in a high-backed chair.”

— Columnist Maureen Dowd on the U.S. Supreme Court justice who wrote the minority opinion trashing the decision to legalize gay sex, in The New York Times, June 29.

“Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today. It ought not to remain binding precedent. Bowers v. Hardwick should be and now is overruled.”

— The U.S. Supreme Court overturning its own 1986 anti-gay decision and thereby legalizing gay sex nationwide, June 26. Activists called it the most important U.S. gay rights ruling ever.

“The most significant ruling ever for lesbian and gay Americans’ civil rights.... This ruling starts an entirely new chapter in our fight for equality for lesbians and gay men.”

— Lambda Legal, on the June 26 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay sex nationwide.

“Sean Hayes and I have argued about [his ‘Will & Grace’ character] Jack. I say he’s a stereotype; Sean says he’s just unique and a little peculiar. At least Jack generally does have the last laugh and isn’t laughed at. If he were the only gay character on TV it would be a concern.”

— Scott Seomin, entertainment media director at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, to the Denver Post, June 23.

“We never chose to be public figures or to take on this fight. But we also never thought we could be arrested this way. We’re glad not only that this ruling lets us get on with our lives but that it opens the door for gay people all across the country to be truly equal. We’re grateful to everyone who has respected our privacy over the last few years, even if the state of Texas did not respect it that night in 1998.”

— John Geddes Lawrence, 59, who was arrested with Tyron Garner, 35, on Sept. 17, 1998, in Garner’s bedroom for violating Texas’ law against “deviate sexual intercourse.”

“For years, Canada has been the place to go for dodging the draft, buying cheap prescription drugs and now for same-sex marriages. Americans up there just to go fishing probably arouse suspicion.”

— Column Mark Russell, Tribune Media Services, June 23.

“Joyce and I have both been surprised by how changed we feel. After exchanging vows, we spent the weekend in Toronto, giving us a chance to test drive being newlyweds in a wonderfully accepting city. We stopped calling each other ‘partner’ and began using ‘spouse.’ When shopkeepers, cab drivers, hotel clerks and waiters asked why we were visiting Canada, we explained we had come to marry — and everyone cheered.”

— Syndicated columnist Deb Price in her July 7 column. Marriage was opened to same-sex couples in Ontario province by a June 10 court ruling that took effect instantly. An identical ruling took effect in British Columbia July 8. There are no residency requirements. Foreign couples can buy a license and marry the same day.