BY REX WOCKNER

"I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want."
– Rapper Eminem when asked by The New York Times on June 14: "You've been accused of writing gay-bashing lyrics in the past. Would you like to see gay marriage approved in Michigan, where you live?"

"I do believe that God created male and female and intended for marriage to be the relationship of the two opposite sexes. Male and female are biologically compatible to have a relationship. We can get into the ick factor, but the fact is two men in a relationship, two women in a relationship, biologically, that doesn't work the same."
– Possible presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to The New Yorker, June 28.

"Brilliant. Love him. Want him (lawyer Ted Olson) on our side on all the issues we care about."
– National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell live-tweeting from the closing arguments of the federal Prop 8 trial in San Francisco, June 16.

"(Pro-Prop-8 lawyer Charles) Cooper (says the) evidence showed lesbians especially change their sexual orientation many times. This explains my desire to schtoup George Clooney."
– National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell live-tweeting from the closing arguments of the federal Prop 8 trial in San Francisco, June 16.

"The plaintiffs' witnesses were quite candid and unequivocal and uniform that sexual orientation does change. It does change over time. And it apparently changes especially in -- in women."
– Pro-Prop-8 lawyer Charles Cooper at the federal Prop 8 trial June 16 in
San Francisco.

"'We've always done it that way,' is the…corollary to 'Because I say so.' It's not a reason (to restrict marriage to a man and a woman)."
–Lawyer Ted Olson at the closing of the federal Prop 8 trial, June 16 in San Francisco.

"We are imposing great damage on them (same-sex couples) by the ... state of California saying they are different and they cannot have the happiness, they cannot have the privacy, they cannot have the liberty, they cannot have the intimate association in the context of a marriage that the rest of our citizens do. We have demonstrated during this trial that that causes grave and permanent, irreparable and totally unnecessary harm, because we are withholding from them ... that right of marriage in the context of the intimate relationship. We are withholding that from them, hurting them and we are doing no good."
– Lawyer Ted Olson at the closing of the federal Prop 8 trial, June 16 in
San Francisco.

"It seems fair to say that the trickle of events (from the Obama administration) has flowed into a slow but steady stream of smaller, yet meaningful, policy gains for LGBT Americans. But given that the 'hope' president came to the White House endowed with heavy Democratic majorities in Congress and a mandate to forge a fresh course for our country, what could have amounted to a watershed moment for LGBT equality has felt less like a waterfall than the drip from a leaky faucet. Sure, water is getting through, but not nearly enough to fortify or sustain a vilified minority that has been systematically burned by a swarm of homophobic laws that swept the nation as the vast majority of politicians either cheered or turned a convenient blind eye."
– Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld in a June 14 commentary.

"Plain and simple, on the big ticket items – the ones that matter most like employment nondiscrimination and repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' and the Defense of Marriage Act -- leadership from the White House has been scarce at worst and inconsistent at best."
– Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld in a June 14 commentary.

"I'm sensing relief now. I had not consciously decided to come out, but there's no doubt looking back that I had become increasingly bold about attending gay events, like pride festivals, and going to dance clubs and bars. Last year I attended Las Vegas Pride and San Diego Pride."
– Outed California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, to the Los
Angeles Times, June 12.

“I just want people to know who I am and what’s in my heart. I kept that from people. I concealed it from everyone for almost all my life, so I’m (now) privileged to work with people from all aspects of life, including organizations devoted to advancing the rights of gay and lesbian and transgendered individuals.”
– Outed California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, to the Los Angeles Times, June 12.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever felt more optimistic about the future for myself. I don’t know what the future holds, but I think it’s going to be incredible.”
– Outed California state Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, to the Los Angeles Times, June 12.

“I still use the word ‘faggot’ all the time in my column. Every time that I am on chat shows on cable, I make a point of using ‘fag’ in reference to myself because I don’t think it is a dirty word.”
– Writer Dan Savage to Windy City Times, June 9.

“No one who loves and nurtures a child day-in and day-out should be unable to care for that child when he or she falls ill. ... No one who intends to raise a child should be denied the opportunity to be present when that child is born simply because the state or an employer fails to recognize his or her relationship with the biological parent. ... The Labor Department’s action today sends a clear message to workers and employers alike: All families, including LGBT families, are protected by the FMLA.”
– U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on June 22 as the Department of Labor “clarified the definition of ‘son and daughter’ under the Family and Medical Leave Act to ensure that an employee who assumes the role of caring for a child receives parental rights to family leave regardless of the legal or biological relationship.”

“Ten years ago, I was the first First Lady ... to march in a Pride parade, and it was so much fun. And one or two of you marched with me and I am still grateful to you.”
– U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at her official “LGBT Month” event, June 22.

“I know that when you’re in the midst of a great movement of change it seems like it is glacial, but any fair assessment, from my perspective, having lived longer than at least more than 75 percent of you that I see in this room, is that it is extraordinary what has happened in such a short period of time.”
– U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at her official “LGBT Month” event, June 22.

“Just as I was very proud to say the obvious more than 15 years ago in Beijing that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, well, let me say today that human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all. ... We are elevating our human rights dialogues with other governments and conducting public diplomacy to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.”
– U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at her official “LGBT Month” event, June 22.