Riley Roberts, 18-years-old, speaking to the Nevada Assembly, asking for marriage equality for his two moms:
“My name is Riley Roberts and my life is amazing. Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you about the issue of gay marriage and how it affects my life. What issue? I see no issue. I was born in Reno, Nevada 18 years ago and guess who was there? My mom Pamela Roberts and Gretchen Miller, my loving parents. And who was there to watch me take my first steps? Pamela Roberts and Gretchen Miller. And who was there when I said my first words? My two loving parents. And who was there when I kicked my first soccer ball? My two loving parents. And who can I talk to when I need anything? My two loving parents. And who will be there to see me walk across the stage next month and receive my honors diploma? My two gay loving parents who have been together for 22 years."
How can anyone say that two women, or two men, cannot be good parents, when it’s quite obvious, again, that Pamela Roberts and Gretchen Miller raised an amazing son?
Madness, I tell you; that’s got to be the only reason.
Chelsea Clinton, on marriage equality:
"It just seems so fundamental to me. I'm able to marry the person I wanted to marry. That's the fundamental human imperative. Those of us who have been lucky enough should expand these rights to others."
Equality should be fundamental, eh?
I mean, wasn’t there something that went something like ‘all men are created equal’?
E.W. Jackson, GOP nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor, standing by his declaration that gay people are perverted and sick:
"I say the things that I say because I’m a Christian, not because I hate anybody, but because I have religious values that matter to me. Attacking me because I hold to those principles is attacking every church-going person, every family that’s living a traditional family life, everybody who believes that we all deserve the right to live. So I don’t have anything to rephrase or apologize for. I would just say people should not paint me as one-dimensional."
See what he does there?
He attacks gay people by calling them pedophiles and perverts and saying we’re sick, but when he gets attacked for his views, he pulls out a Bible to hide behind.
Judge not, asshat.
"Today is a sad day for the Boy Scouts of America. They have succumbed to political pressure and abandoned their historic roots in what will prove to be a failed attempt to appease gay activists and corporate donors. Unfortunately, what they have done is said to the world that their oath no longer means much. Their decision to admit openly gay scouts will end up sexualizing the organization. I am certain that having changed their policy on homosexuality, it's only a matter of time before courts order them to admit homosexual scout leaders. Meanwhile, countless thousands of churches will very likely pull their sponsorship rather than endorse homosexuality, and the entire organization will begin to collapse. All of this is happening not because of a true grassroots demand of gay youth to be part of the organization but by an orchestrated political effort by gay activists who want to punish any group or organization that does not embrace homosexuality. It's the beginning of the end for what once was one of America's noblest organizations."
I love how Brown says that by the Boy Scouts trying a little non-discrimination—at least until the scout becomes eighteen years of age—that they are advancing the homosexual agenda, or appeasing the homosexual community.
What they are doing, halfp-0assed though it may be, is treating all kids equally.
Then, of course, they’ll treat the gay adults as less than.
Bryan Fischer, AFA wingnut, on why the Mormon Church ended up supporting the, as he now calls them because name-calling works, the Boy Sodomizers of America’s decision to lift the ban on gay scouts:
"The LDS leadership, these people are smart, they're sharp, they're thinking all the time and I believe one of the reasons they may have gone soft on the homosexual agenda is that they believe that the homosexual agenda may be the secret to restoring polygamy to America and this would vindicate Mormon doctrine from the very beginning."
So, the Mormon Church sees the idea of letting young gay boys join an organization as a stepping stone toward legalizing polygamy.
Even for Fischer, who never met a lie he didn’t want to spread around like horseshit, that’s a stretch.
Harvey Fierstein, on the war against The Gays:
"The first prong is political. When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we're under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.
The second wave is the steady barrage coming from those who would call themselves moral leaders. Shielded behind lecterns, they assign condemnation with impunity. Claiming to be brimming with the love of their creator, they spew forth the cowardice of the mob. Fundamentalism, whether raining down terror abroad or in homilies from our home parishes, is the enemy. It is the death knell of tolerance, progress and compromise. Fundamentalism is, in all practicality, nothing but an invitation to bigotry.
And thirdly, when we excuse homophobia as a matter of opinion instead of treating it as a destructive social illness, we invite fear to explode into violence. How often are the perpetrators of hate-crimes discovered to be self-loathing? Valued individuals do not strike out against strangers."
Read those words.
As usual, Fierstein is perfection.
Frank Rich, on LGBT history:
"As we just learned, a man can still be murdered for being gay a few blocks away from the Stonewall Inn. But the rapidity of change has been stunning. The world only spins forward, as Tony Kushner wrote. And yet as we celebrate the forward velocity of gay rights, I think we must glance backward as well. History is being lost in this shuffle—that of those gay men and women who experienced little or none of today’s freedoms. Whatever the other distinctions between the struggles of black Americans and gay Americans for equality under the law—starting with the overarching horror of slavery—one difference is intrinsic. Black people couldn’t (for the most part) hide their identity in an America that treated them cruelly. Gay people could hide and, out of self-protection, often did. That’s why their stories were cloaked in silence and are at risk of being forgotten."
Just a reminder that, in order to move forward, we need to look back, and honor and remember and celebrate those who planted their feet in resistance to discrimination; those who chose not to hide, but to step into the light and demand equality.
James Blake, hot American tennis player, on becoming an Athlete Ally in the fight against homophobia:
“I am proud to be affiliated with Athlete Ally because they do exceptional work that can actually make a difference in the sports world and beyond. Inclusion doesn't have to be a political issue, but more a human issue. As a mixed background person, I have been told I could be hated by both sides. I have always tried to look at it the opposite way as a positive that I could be accepted and included. I am extremely lucky and feel that everyone should have the feeling of acceptance.”
It’s right in there: inclusion is a human issue. It defies religion and faith and politics.
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