A&E Salute to Gay Friendly Public Figures

We would like to dedicate this page to those public officials who have taken up the cause to help the gay community. Of course if you think we have neglected someone, please feel free to email us and we will research and add them if warranted. These folks listed below have gone outside of the box, and in some cases, outside of local laws to enact fair and unbiased treatment of the gay community. We should make every effort to visibly support them at every opportunity, for without officials such as these, willing to take the risks they have, we as a community would suffer greatly. Our hats are off in salute to these individuals who have shown us that true democracy still exists in America. More than anything, we hope that this list continues to grow.

	San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsome: "Less than a month ago I took the oath of office here at City Hall and swore to uphold California's Constitution, which clearly outlaws all forms of discrimination," Newsom said in a statement. "Denying basic rights to members of our community will not be tolerated."
	Seattle Mayor, Greg Nickels: "The basic message is one of fairness, and that is that people who are willing to make a commitment to one another, who love one another, and who are willing to take on the responsibilities of marriage ought to be able to, regardless of their gender," Nickels said
	Ohio Congressman, Dennis Kucinich: "I oppose the Constitutional amendment. Equal protection of the law, including the right to marry, must be made available to all Americans regardless of race, color, creed or sexual orientation The amendment as supported by the president is a continuation of his divisive policies which are not worthy of a free nation or a freedom-loving people."
	Chicago Mayor, Richard M. Daley: "Marriage has been undermined by divorce, so don't tell me about marriage," he said. "Don't blame the gay and lesbian, transgender and transsexual community."
Justices Marshall, Greaney, Cowin, and Ireland	Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: "The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal. For no rational reason the marriage laws of the Commonwealth discriminate against a defined class; no amount of tinkering with language will eradicate that stain. The (civil unions) bill would have the effect of maintaining and fostering a stigma of exclusion that the Constitution prohibits."
	New Paltz, N.Y. Mayor, Jason West: "Marriage is a declaration of love, devotion and commitment. It is a public acknowledgement of a couple's willingness to share their lives and to love, trust and compromise. It is also an important civil institution that provides legal protections, benefits and responsibilities. The couples who were recently married have made this important commitment, and we join them in celebrating their loving unions."
	Oregon's Multnomah County Commission Chairwoman Diane Linn: "The county must grant such licenses or risk violating the Oregon Constitution."
	NM Sandoval County Clerk Victoria Dunlap: "I decided to grant the licenses after county attorney David Mathews determined that New Mexico law is unclear on the issue. He said state law defines marriage as a contract between parties but does not mention gender.", and "People think that when I got in this position, because I'm Republican, they own me. No one owns me. I believe in government, but I'm not going to sell my mind to the Republican Party."
	Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson: "The more people become familiar with the impacts of marital discrimination on so many people, the greater progress we're going to see"
	New York, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller: "Denying same-sex couples the right to marry is unacceptable discrimination pure and simple"
	Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun: "It seems to me that if people want to marry a person of a different race that's no different than somebody wanting to marry someone of the same sex. And, indeed, we should be celebrating the fact that these people are talking about forming solid relationships, families, because families, in the end, will keep the community stable and are the basis upon which our country has been built and will survive."
	Reverend Al Sharpton: "I think it's a human rights issue. Are we prepared to say that gays and lesbians are less than human? If we're not prepared to say that, then how do we say that they should not have the same human rights and human choices of anyone else? I would not support any limitations on human and civil rights for anyone in the country. Whatever my view is, I think my view I have the right to personally. I do not have the right to impose that on others."

	Lori Ellison, resident Sandoval County, MN: "We stand today in this nation on the brink of what could well be the greatest step forward in civil and human rights we have seen in several decades. This is the fight of my life", Lori Ellison said as she choked back tears.
	Rosie O'Donnel: "I think the actions of the president yesterday, which are, you know, in my opinion, the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting president in my opinion. I am stunned, and I am horrified. We, too, have a dream of equality for all families. The only way changes are made in society is when people like Mayor Gavin Newsom have the courage to stand up against injustice."
	Henry Louis Gates, Harvard University professor: "I don't understand why the movement to legitimize gay marriage would bother people so much. We have to fight to educate people and transform that visceral response (because) one of the strengths of the black civil rights movement is that it's served as a model for so many other movements. We who have suffered so much should also be the most compassionate."
	Louis Weisberg, columnist, Chicago Free Press: "It is incumbent upon all of us to let our families and friends know the true status of gay relationships in America, that we are unionless. We pay equal taxes but are eligible for far fewer benefits, 1,094, to be exact. We have neither inheritance rights nor access to our partner's social security or pensions. Most of us don't even have the right to visit our partners in the hospital. And the national GOP wants to enshrine this oppression in the very constitution that guarantees everyone else freedom and the pursuit of happiness. We've all heard the stories of German Jews who said nothing to their neighbors as the Nazis rose to power. Let's learn a lesson from history and not wait until it's too late to let the world know that we're under assault from people who mean business."
	David Brooks, The Power of Marriage, opinion in the New York Times: "The conservative course is not to banish gay people from making such commitments. It is to be expected they make such commitments. We shouldn't just allow gay marriage. We should insist on gay marriage. We should regard it as scandalous that two people could claim to love each other and not want to sanctify their love with marriage and fidelity."
	Richard Cohen, This May Be Good for Marriage, in the Washington Post: "The odd thing about the opposition to gay marriage is that if opponents were not so blinded by bigotry and fear, they would see that gay men and lesbians provide the last, best argument for marriage: love and commitment. Gay marriage will not and cannot weaken the institution of marriage. A heterosexual is not somehow less married because a homosexual has tied the knot. On the contrary, the institution will be strengthened, bolstered by the very people who for conservatives represent everything loathsome about modernity. Gays are not attacking marriage. They want to practice it."

	Martin Cauchon, Canadian Justice Minister: "Less than equal is less than adequate. To create another institution [such as civil unions] just contributes to the fact that we would tell those members of the gay and lesbian community that they are not entirely part of our society. Why wouldn't they be part of marriage?"
	Ellen Goodman, columnist, Boston Globe: "Gay and lesbian couples who want to wed aren't trying to assail the grounds for marriage. They're trying to share them. If anything, they want to stabilize the gay community."
	Andrew Sullivan, New Republic: "Homosexuality, at its core, is about the emotional connection between two adult human beings. And what public institution is more central, more definitive to that connection, than marriage? The denial of marriage to gay people is therefore not a minor issue. It is the entire issue."