"It is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. … I cannot escape being troubled in the fact that we have in place a policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity. Theirs as individuals and ours as an institution."

"At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy."

"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it."

"Reignited by the brutal slaying of a gay soldier at Ft. Campbell, Ky., the controversy over gays in the military threatens to become as combative an issue at the end of the Clinton administration as it was at the beginning. In recent weeks, the president, vice president and first lady have separately criticized the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and Defense Secretary William S. Cohen has authorized an investigation of its enforcement."

"There is no evidence that wounded troops care about the sexual orientation of the flight nurse or medical technician tending to their wounds."

"I fully support the president's decision."

"We are gathered here today from all over the U.S., and back home many of us are deeply embroiled in the particular local battles that we are fighting, but today is a national rally and when we walk away from here tonight, we need to walk away with a common national resolve."

"I'm here today because I lost my son to hate. ... No one has the right to tell my son whether or not he can work anywhere. Whether or not he can live wherever he wants to live and whether or not he can be with the one person he loves -- no one has that right," Judy Shepard told the crowd. "We are all Americans. We are all equal Americans, gay, straight or whatever."

"Obama, I know you are listening. Are you listening? We will continue to push you and your administration to bring your words of promise to a reality."