"I'm over the age of 40 -- and that's all you're going to get from me -- but I have never been able to maintain a relationship of the length or the quality that [Senator] Tom Duane and [his partner Louis Webre] has," she said. "These are relationships that I envy, and in fact we all should envy. All they ask for is to be treated fairly and equally."

"We in government don't determine the quality or the validity of people's relationships," she continued. "If we did, we would not issue three-quarters of the marriage licenses that we do."

On television's The Bachelor: "[a show]...in which "30 desperate women will compete to marry a 40-year-old man who has never been able to maintain a decent relationship in his life."

"...young women are socialized from the time they're 5-years-old" to fantasize about their wedding day when "they don't spend five minutes thinking what it means to be a wife."

"We have nothing to fear from people who are committed to each other and want to share their lives and protect one another," she said. "We have nothing to fear from love and commitment."