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First, I was opposed to gay marriage because it seemed like one more way that gays were wanting to assimilate. When I realized the Christian right was so opposed to it, as well as tyrannical governments in Africa and Russia, I thought, 'It must be a good thing to fight for.'

It was my own internalised homophobia. I didn't want to be gay.

I was never an assimilationist. I always thought gays had some special mission.

Originally, I was against gay marriage because I was opposed to all marriage, being an old-fashioned gay bohemian. The straight people I knew in the sixties were very much opposed to it. I was, too, and it was never a possibility for gays, but when I saw how opposed the Religious Right was to it, I thought it a fight worth fighting.

My own early crusade for same-sex marriage, for example, is now mainstream gay politics. It wasn't when I started.

I think also there was a lot of coming to terms with where I am in life, where I fit in as a gay man in America, and getting more comfortable with who I am.

People who were gay were pitied and ridiculed by my parents - they had no modern sense of people being allowed to be who they were.

I absolutely believe in assimilation. I don't believe I'm any different from straight people. My wants and needs are the same as theirs. I don't look at sexual orientation as that big of a deal. It's just an orientation.

I'm trying to appeal to the disenfranchised everybody, not just specifically gay.

I oppose the attempts of homosexual activists to treat homosexual activity as a civil right to be protected and promoted by the government.