SHe Said Best of 2004:

“The difference between me and George Bush will be the difference to gay and lesbian couples and individuals across the country – whether rights are afforded them or whether or not they are discriminated against.”
– John Kerry as quoted in the Oct. 26, 2004 issue of The Advocate.
“After being together for more than 50 years, it is a terrible blow to have the rights and protections of marriage taken away from us. At our age, we do not have the luxury of time.”
– Phyllis Lyon, 79, as quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle Aug. 31, 2004. Lyon and Del Martin, 83, were the first couple married at San Francisco’s City Hall in February, 2004.
“I am a gay American.”
– James E. McGreevey, former governor of New Jersey, during his resignation speech, Aug. 12, 2004.
“Freedom means freedom for everyone. … People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.”
– Vice President Dick Cheney during a campaign stop in Iowa, Aug. 25, 2004.
“I can’t see why our society wouldn’t welcome the recognition of love and partnership between any two people. I find it difficult to believe that one group ought to be free of discrimination but another group somehow shouldn’t.”
– NAACP Chairman Julian Bond as quoted by Deb Price in The Detroit News, Sept. 20.
“What is a ‘similar union’ and how far does ‘for any purpose’ go? What is clear is that those behind the amendment are so opposed to the ‘gay lifestyle’ that they want to make sure that gay people can’t enter into civil unions, or achieve anything else resembling a normal life.”
– Jack Lessenberry on Proposal 2 in his Politics and Prejudice column in the Sept. 29 issue of The Metro Times.
“I had not heard those numbers with respect to African-American women.”
– Vice President Dick Cheney during his debate with John Edwards Oct. 5, 2004. The moderator’s question included the statistic that black women between the ages of 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die of the disease than their counterparts.
“I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney’s daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she’s being who she was … born as. I think if you talked to anybody, it’s not choice.”
– Sen John Kerry during his Oct. 13, 2004 debate with George W. Bush in answer to the question of whether homosexuality is a choice.
“I think it’s very important that we protect marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. I proposed a constitutional amendment. The reason I did so was because I was worried that activist judges are actually defining the definition of marriage.”
– George W. Bush during his Oct. 13, 2004 debate with Sen. John Kerry in answer to the question of whether homosexuality is a choice.
“We need more Democratic politicians unafraid to link arms with progressive religious leaders and speak the truth: ‘It’s immoral the way our nation treats gay couples trying to protect their relationships, gay parents trying to protect their kids, gay soldiers sacrificing for our country.'”
– Deb Price in her Detroit News column, Nov. 15, 2004.
“The country was moving toward a much greater tolerance of gays … that went far beyond what we saw, say, twenty years ago. Many voters were perfectly happy in their communities with gays living next door. Had that been left undisturbed, we would have seen far more support for gay unions ten years from now. But the decisions to approve gay marriages in Massachusetts and San Francisco may have spurred voters to make a decision about the issue before they were ready.”
– David Gergen, director of the Center for Public Leadership in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, as quoted in the Dec. 9, 2004 issue of Rolling Stone.
“The famous test pilot Chuck Yeager, after breaking the sound barrier for the first time, in a speech said something like: ‘The plane shakes the hardest just before you break through.’ And I believe what we’re experiencing from conservatives right now is that shaking, and maybe the whole culture is shaking before we break through this next barrier for gay and lesbian folks.”
– Bishop Gene Robinson as quoted on Beliefnet.com.