“Exclusion of just one class of citizens from receiving a marriage license based upon the perceived ‘threat’ they pose to the marital institution is, at bottom, an arbitrary exclusion based upon the majority’s disapproval of the defined class. It is also insulting to same-sex couples, who are human beings capable of forming loving, committed, enduring relationships.” —Judge Terence C. Kern, in his ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Jan. 14
“Justice has often been forged from fires of indignities and prejudices suffered. Our triumphs that celebrate the freedom of choice are hallowed. We have arrived upon another moment in history when ‘We the People’ becomes more inclusive, and our freedom more perfect.” — Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen, in a ruling in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, on Feb. 2
“Tradition alone cannot form a rational basis for a law…. The fact that a particular discrimination has been ‘traditional’ is even more of a reason to be skeptical of its rationality.” —Judge Chris Piazza, in his ruling for Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Ark., Second Division, on May 9
“Idaho’s Marriage Laws withhold from them [the plaintiffs] a profound and personal choice, one that most can take for granted. By doing so, Idaho’s Marriage Laws deny same-sex couples the economic, practical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of marriage, relegating each couple to a stigmatized, second-class status. Plaintiffs suffer these injuries not because they are unqualified to marry, start a family, or grow old together, but because of who they are and whom they love.” —Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Wagahoff Dale, in a ruling in the U.S. District Court for Idaho, on May 13
“With discernment we see not shadows lurking in closets or the stereotypes of what was once believed; rather, we see families committed to the common purpose of love, devotion, and service to the greater community.” — Judge Michael McShane, in his ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, on May 19
“We are better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history.” — Judge John E. Jones III, in a decision in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, on May 20
“Our courts did not wait for the democratic process to undo racial segregation. Our courts did not abandon the equal rights of women to politicians or polls. Our courts intervened to eliminate state bans on inter-racial marriage. And the Supreme Court rejected the State’s argument for deference when invalidating DOMA in Windsor.” — Lambda Legal in court filing in response to the state’s attempt to have its lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage ban dismissed, Sept. 5
“The right to marry is, of course, a fundamental right. But that right has never previously been understood as extending to same-sex couples,” Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, in a second filing to his motion to dismiss Lambda Legal’s lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage ban, Oct. 22
“This is the amazing thing about you. Had I not known anything about your story, I would have absolutely not a clue that you had ever been a boy — a male. Which makes me absolutely believe you always should have been a woman.” — Piers Morgan, interviewing trans activist, journalist, author and educator Janet Mock to coincide with the publication of her book, “Redefining Realness,” (CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live,” Feb. 4)
“He’s trying to do info-tainment. He doesn’t really want to talk about trans issues, he wants to sensationalize my life and not really talk about the work that I do and what the purpose of me writing this book was about.” — Janet Mock, discussing Piers Morgan’s insensitive interview (Feb. 5, BuzzFeed)
“I’m Michael Sam, I’m a football player, and I’m gay.” — Michael Sam, All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the University of Missouri. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams, was cut, then played for the Dallas Cowboys practice squad before being released. (New York Times, Feb. 9)
“I think everyone should be with who they love. I don’t want to be controversial or stir up a bunch of trouble but people are going to love who they are going to love. I think gay couples should be allowed to marry. They should suffer just like us heterosexuals. Ha ha ha!”— Dolly Parton (Dailymail.co.uk, April 26)
“We live in an uncertain world and we want to believe that what a man is and what a woman is–I know that. And people don’t want to critically interrogate the world around them. Whenever I’m afraid of something or I’m threatened by something, it’s because it brings up some sort of insecurity in me. I think the reality is that most of us are insecure about our gender. They think, ‘Okay, if there’s this trans person over here, then what does that make me?”— Laverne Cox, who made history as the first trans person to be on Time’s cover (May 29)
“Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that. I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.” — Rick Perry, governor of Texas and former Republican presidential candidate, (Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, June 11)
“This is an effort to have government coerce, force speech and behavior. And it’s being pushed and advocated by the gay community. This is their ultimate goal. It’s to not allow for diversity of opinion on this issue, because they don’t want to be celebrated, they want to force everyone to not only agree with them but also have to finance their agenda.” — Michele Bachmann, on radio talk show Faith & Liberty (Washington Post, July 25)
“When you have an environment like this, it empowers people to make positive and healthy decisions down the road and that saves lives.” — Billy Bean, Major League Baseball’s ambassador of inclusion, who came out gay after he retired from professional baseball (The New York Times, Aug. 23)
“God says, ‘One woman, one man,’ and everyone says, ‘Oh, that’s old hat, that’s that old Bible stuff,’” he said. “But I’m thinking, well let’s see now. A clean guy — a disease-free guy and a disease-free woman — they marry and they keep their sex between the two of them. They’re not going to get chlamydia, and gonorrhea, and syphilis, and AIDS. It’s safe.” — “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, in an interview on Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins’ radio show (Think Progress, Sept. 10)
“Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all fifty states.” President Barack Obama (The New Yorker, Oct. 27)
“Make this man a saint now, OK?” — Elton John on Pope Francis at an AIDS benefit concert in New York (The Guardian, Oct. 29)
“So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” — Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, in an op-ed for BloombergBusinessweek, Oct. 30
“Guess who was a huge sponsor of the Atlanta Gay Pride march and festival last month? They even put an ad in the ‘Pride Guide.’” — Anti-gay group the American Family Association, on the Kellog’s ad “Wear Your Stripes with Pride” featuring Tony the Tiger (Facebook, Nov. 7)
“They have just twisted the language but it is the same thing. It’s actually worse because the ‘promotion’ part is harsher and it will punish the funding of LGBT and human rights groups.” Gay rights activist Frank Mugisha on new anti-gay legislation being presented in Uganda by the end of 2014 (The Guardian, Nov. 8)
“And that, my friend, is the cure for AIDS. It was right there in the Bible all along — and they’re out spending billions of dollars in research and testing. It’s curable — right there. Because if you executed the homos like God recommends, you wouldn’t have all this AIDS running rampant.” Pastor Steven Anderson, founder of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona (The New Civil Rights Movement, Dec. 3)