Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Ironically, American lesbian and gay activists didn't choose marriage as an issue; marriage was thrust upon them. Although isolated same-sex couples sought to marry as far back as 1970, the organized lesbian- and gay-rights movement opposed pushing for marriage; some thought it too conventional a goal, while others thought it dangerously out of reach.

"Evan Wolfson, executive director of the organization Freedom to Marry, recalls simply trying to secure health insurance for the same-sex partners of New York City workers in the 1980s-and being attacked by conservatives for making incursions into the sacred territory of marriage. ''There was a backlash before we ever lashed,'' Wolfson says. Across the country, any time an employer, court, or government considered such straightforward measures as hospital visitation, shared tenancy, or bereavement leave, anti-gay forces escalated the discussion into a fight over marriage."

(E.J. Graff, in The Boston Globe, 8 June 2003)