LGBTQ+ Icons and (their) Words

COMEDY

COMING OUT

• "At a certain point I realized that by not saying something I was sending a message, or maybe giving some people the mistaken impression that I was uncomfortable or there was something that I was ashamed about. … It saddens me to think that I did give that impression because I think being gay is a blessing and it’s something I am thankful for every single day and have been for my entire adult life. So, you know, I couldn’t be more proud of being gay." — Anderson Cooper
• "Personally, coming out was one of the most important things I’ve ever done, lifting from my shoulders the millstone of lies that I hadn’t even realized I was carrying." — Sir Ian McKellen
• "It takes some intelligence and insight to figure out you're gay and then a tremendous amount of balls to live it and live it proudly." — Jason Bateman, actor and gay rights activist
• "It’s been a journey and a process of becoming totally out and sort of living that truth and having it be a daily thing. I’m at the point now that I want people to know that, and I want to talk about it. We’re coming so far as a society, but we still have so far to go. So until we’re all the way there, I’ll probably die talking about it." — Megan Rapinoe, professional soccer player

 

EQUALITY

• "The beauty of standing up for your rights is others see you standing and stand up as well."  — Cassandra Duffy
• “When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.” — Former U.S. President, Barack Obama
• "You can argue that it’s a different world now than the one when Matthew Shepard was killed, but there is a subtle difference between tolerance and acceptance. It’s the distance between moving into the cul-de-sac and having your next door neighbor trust you to keep an eye on her preschool daughter for a few minutes while she runs out to the post office. It’s the chasm between being invited to a colleague’s wedding with your same-sex partner and being able to slow-dance without the other guests whispering." — Jodi Picoult, author and ally
• "I hate the word homophobia. It's not a phobia. You're not scared. You're an asshole." — Morgan Freeman
• "No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hand of the person they love." — Former U.S. President, Barack Obama
• "Someone told me being gay is wrong because we can’t reproduce. I said, “Well then, let the gays adopt all the kids that the straights abandoned after reproducing." — Unknown

 

IDENTITY

• "I am a writer who happens to love women. I am not a lesbian who happens to write." — Jeanette Winterson
• No woman could adjust herself to lesbianism without developing exceptional qualities of courage." — Diana Frederics
• “It is revolutionary for any trans person to choose to be seen and visible in a world that tells us we should not exist.” — Laverne Cox
• "The idea of one's sexuality can only with great violence be divorced or distanced from the idea of the self." — James Baldwin, author
• "It is better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not." — Andre Gide
• "We are all assigned a gender at birth. Sometimes that assignment doesn’t match our inner truth, and there needs to be a new place — a place for self-identification. I was not born a boy, I was assigned boy at birth. Understanding the difference between the two is crucial to our culture and society moving forward in in the way we treat – and talk about – transgender individuals … In today’s globally connected and ever-diversifying world, culture is now more fluid and more flexible than ever- and so too should be our understanding and perception of gender.​" — Geena Rocero, trans rights activist
• "I didn’t realize who I was until I stopped being who I wasn’t." — Unknown

 

LIFE

• "All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential." — Harvey Milk
• "We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity." — George Takei
• “You look ridiculous if you dance. You look ridiculous if you don’t dance. So you might as well dance.” — Gertrude Stein, Three Lives
• "This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another." — Ellen Page
• "All of us who are openly gay are living and writing the history of our movement. We are no more - and no less - heroic than the suffragists and abolitionists of the 19th century; and the labor organizers, Freedom Riders, Stonewall demonstrators, and environmentalists of the 20th century. We are ordinary people, living our lives, and trying as civil-rights activist Dorothy Cotton said, to 'fix what ain't right' in our society." — Senator Tammy Baldwin, first openly gay U.S. senator (Wisconsin)
• "I very much want to inject gay culture into the mainstream. It’s not an underground tool for me. It’s my whole life." — Lady Gaga

 

LOVE

• "Everybody’s journey is individual. You don’t know with whom you’re going to fall in love. … If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality." — James Baldwin, author
• "Love is about love, not gender." — Unknown
• "What is straight?  A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, on, no, it's curved like a road through mountains." — Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire.
• "Being a lesbian means I have the opportunity to love what is uncommon and I'm okay with that. I do not cry myself to sleep or am upset by the life that I lead because of who I care about. Because I accept the fact that it is simply love." — Jenna Anne
• "If you are in the closet and fall in love with someone of the same gender, it doesn’t automatically remove the shame and fear that’s kept you locked away. The love you are experiencing encourages you to face the reality that this is who you really are and also has the power to set you free. The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability. Love, the most powerful of human emotions, is calling you to freedom and wholeness." — Anthony Venn Brown

 

PERSONAL WORTH

• "There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s a lot wrong with the world you live in." — Chris Colfer, actor
• "I won't apologize for who I am." - Various
• "The pressures on gay teens can be overwhelming–to keep secrets, tell lies, deny who you are, and try to be who you’re not. Remember: you are special and worth being cared about, loved, and accepted just as you are. Never, ever let anyone convince you otherwise."  — Alex Sanchez, author
• "Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." —Harvey Fierstein