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In a sentencing statement, Judge David Allen said that he regarded the shooting outside of a popular Detroit gay nightspot as a cold-blooded anti-gay attack, recalling that Williams shot Vonatti at close range while calling the victim a “faggot” and other anti-gay epithets.
In addressing Williams directly the judge said, “It haunts this court, Mr. Williams, that you choose to harm someone so vulnerable.... Like you [Mr. Vonatti] is a son, brother, uncle, cousin, friend and lover. He loved and was loved and was on this earth to be left alone in peace and happiness. Who and how he loved was none of your business and was no threat to you and the community... Let's also get one other thing straight that came up in trial. Homosexuality is not a ‘ lifestyle’ or ‘ choice.’ Homosexuality is no different than the color of your eyes or hair; you come out of your mother's womb with no choice in the matter. After all, would anyone in their right mind choose to be homosexual with predators like you shooting them in the head for being gay? Defining the issue as one of choice only makes it easier to hate, condemn and harm as you so illustrate.”—Judge David Allen, august 10 365Gay.com, 'Hate Crimes Against Gays Tackled In 2 States '
Dan Savage says that he and his partner, Terry, weren't interested in getting married, and they had mixed feelings about the gay weddings they had attended. (Mostly, having such a ceremony seemed to mean the kiss of death for a gay relationship.)
Nonetheless, Dan writes in his book, "The Commitment," that he couldn't help being affected by the incessant media coverage of anti-gay marriage legislation:
"There's only so much you can take, only so long you can laugh off the insults. You reach your limit more quickly when your kid is sitting at the kitchen table in his Incredible Hulk pj's, eating his breakfast, pausing now and again to wiggle one of his loose baby teeth, all the while listening to his parents' relationship described as a threat to all things decent and good."
—sept 11 Seattle Times, 'Free to be Dan Savage's family'
Several state senators equated the struggle for gay marriage to other civil rights movements. They said arguments against the bill were similar to arguments in support of slavery and opposing interracial marriage.
"This is probably the most profound civil rights movement of our generation, without a doubt."—California state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, sept 4 Inside Bay Area, 'Same-sex marriage? The time is right'
"Equality is equality, period. When I leave this Legislature, I want to be able to tell my grandchildren I stood up for dignity and rights for all."—California state Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, sept 4 Inside Bay Area, 'Same-sex marriage? The time is right'
"Gay and lesbian people fall in love. We settle down. We commit our lives to one another. We raise our children. We protect them. We try to be good citizens. This is a bill whose time has come."—California state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who is a lesbian, on the approval of same-sex marriage by the Senate, sept. 2 Associated Press
"We are in the midst of our civil rights movement. We are in the midst of a marriage movement where amendments are being proposed that will further entrench discrimination against our families."—Angie Nichols, American lesbian wife & mother, august 28 Duluth Times Tribune, 'Mom times two'
"I was 25 when I first kissed a woman. A light bulb went off in my head. I had just come home to a part of my soul I had never been able to find words to describe."—Reverand Phyllis Hunt, july 29 St. Petersburg Times, 'Pastor finally at peace being gay, Christian'
"Bill C-38 aims to right the wrongs gays and lesbians have suffered in years past. While giving same-sex couples legal access to civil marriage, it will also help put an end to discrimination. This bill is about restoring dignity."—Canadian Senator Serge Joyal, july 20 Saskatoon Star Phoenix, 'Same-sex marriage bill gets Senatte nod in late-night vote'
"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?."—Ernest Gaines, novelist
"As the ship was docking at the end of the [inaugural R Family Vacation cruise, a trip for gay families organized by Rosie O’Donnell’s partner, Kelli Carpenter], the captain made an announcement that he had never been on a cruise with better behaved children or more attentive parents."—Bob Bernstein, a retired lawyer, writer and father of a lesbian, july 1 Washington Blade, 'All in the ‘Families’'
"What will be the next step down the infamous slope? Will it be legalizing polygamy? Legalizing prostitution? Legalizing hard drugs or maybe just working for organized crime to import strippers and drugs? God only knows, Mr. Speaker."—Conservative MP Dave Chatters of Alberta during last debate on same-sex marriage in Canadian Parliament moments before vote in favour (158 to 133), june 28 National Post
"We want to dismantle the invisible hierarchy of sin that many evangelicals promote that puts gays and lesbians at the top of the list. That sense of self-righteousness and superiority runs rampant in our church like a cancer."
"I had a moment with a lesbian couple where I apologized for Christianity. In a sense that's what we're doing here, but I didn't expect to utter the words out loud. I'm a follower of Christ, but I'm not a follower of Christianity. Christianity has done a lot of these people a lot of harm."
—Two male members of a conservative Baptist church in New Jersey, june 15 New York Times, 'Christians Say Hello. Gay Activists Say Hmmm' reported in About, 'Christians and Gay Activists in Conversation'
"Given that people such as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini and Pol Pot were all avowedly heterosexual, a bit more gayness in the world would almost certainly be a good thing."—Paul Sussman, june 12 Independent UK, 'Give it to me straight'
"If you removed all the homosexuals and homosexual influence from what is generally regarded as American culture, pretty much of what would be left is 'Let's Make a Deal'."—Fran Lebowitz
"The battle for equal treatment, opportunity and recognition for same-sex couples is the defining moral battle of our generation, and it can be won before we pass leadership on to the next."—Rob Hunter, may 5 Badger Herald University of Wisconsin, 'Gay rights needed to protect equality'
"Same-sex marriages are now a reality in Canada and I don't think there will be any turning back. Frankly, I would have been quite shocked if someone had tried to tell me [25 years ago] that this is where the logic of the equality provision [of the Charter of Rights] would lead. But lead here it did."—Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, apr 30 article of the Globe & Mail reporting on his acceptance speech when honoured with the International Role Model Award by Equality Forum for his advocacy of same-sex marriage (see also 'Former Canadian PM Under Fire Over US Gay Award' (365gay)
"You either think with the mind of the Church or you don't. Those who don't should find another religion."—Loyal Catholics, apr 3 Detroit News, 'Social issues divide U.S. Catholics'
"Sexuality is about creativity and self-expression, and alternative sexualities should be celebrated. You should love who you are."—Archbishop Desmond Tutu, mar 18 Johannesburg Mail & Guardian, 'Celebrate alternative sexuality, says Tutu'
"Penguins accept same-sex commitments. Why do some people have so much trouble with the idea?"—Canadians for Equal Marriage, feb 15 headline
"I do not support gay marriage. I don't think gay people should have sex."—A 52-year-old-man, who is a pastor in a Christian sect, and on trial in Quebec for marrying a 10-year-old girl when he was 47, jan 19 National Post
"We've been through two debates in Parliament on gay marriage and it's like opening the cesspool of human ignorance."—Michael Hendricks, 63, who with his partner, Rene LeBoeuf, helped lead the fight for equal marriage rights in Canada, dec 27 National Post