We are here because what we want, who we love and how we feel has an effect on the amount of power we have in the world. We’ve come together in the name of desire.

I may be revered or defamed and decried; but I tried to live my life right.

I don’t equate femininity with weakness, I also knew that I had to be strong, and to protect myself and the people I loved

I lost my own father to violence when he stood up for an employee who was being attacked. I’ve heard from my wonderful friends in the LGBT community about the hard roads too many have traveled. And many parents have shared painful stories with me about how their children, who might be perceived to be different, are ruthlessly attacked and scared of their own schools. I am passionate about standing up against bullying and homophobia in sports, and feel compelled to take action. It is time we stand up for what is right and support people who are being harmed. Every person on this planet has a right to be true to themselves, to love and be loved, and to be happy. I encourage others to stand up with me and make a difference.

Just as you have the instinctive natural desire to be happy and overcome suffering, so do all sentient beings; just as you have the right to fulfill this innate aspiration, so do all sentient beings. So on what grounds do you discriminate?

The ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man; either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

I think if two people love each other, then what the hell? I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want.

Intolerance is not genetically encoded - it is taught. It is learned at home. It is learned in the classrooms and it is learned anywhere else we gather as a group. Bullying is torture, it is another betrayal of basic human decency and its scars reach into the future of its survivors

Doesn’t it seem to be that "don’t ask, don’t tell" is backwards? Doesn’t it seem to be based on the Constitution of the United States that we’re penalizing the wrong soldier? Doesn’t it seem to you that we should send home the straight soldier who hates the gay soldier? The straight soldier whose performance in the military is affected because he is homophobic. The straight soldier who has prejudice in his heart in the space where the military asks him to hold our core American values?

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. Where there is love, there is life.

There’s this illusion that homosexuals have sex and heterosexuals fall in love. That’s completely untrue. Everybody wants to be loved.

Why should I support a religion that does not accept my beloved brother ?

I just wish more of my fellow queers would come out sometimes. It’s nice out here, you know?

Where there is tension between cultural attitudes and universal human rights, universal human rights must carry the day. Personal disapproval, even society’s disapproval, is no excuse to arrest, detain, imprison, harass or torture anyone- ever.

The world is not divided into sheeps and goats. Not all things are black nor all things white. It is a fundamental of taxonomy that nature rarely deals with discrete categories. Only the human mind invents categories and tries to force facts into separated pigeon-holes. The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects. The sooner we learn this concerning sexual behavior the sooner we shall reach a sound understanding of the realities of sexuality.

I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.

The world is filled with pain and suffering; therefore, we must support our basic human right to love and be loved

Homosexuality is not the problem ; Prejudice is the problem

You’ll never find peace of mind until you listen to your heart.

The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, is true perversion.

I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes the target or the potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed with themselves.

There should be no homophobia or discrimination anywhere in this world

When you hide that kind of thing, other people can sense you’re uncomfortable. They can see that as a weakness and use it as a target to bully you. That was the case when I was quite young and only just realising I was gay. Society teaches you that gay is not as good as straight, you grow up with those ideas in your head, and you punish yourself. You try and deny it, or wait it out, or change it. But it wasn’t until I was totally honest about it all that it wasn’t a problem. I wish I could tell everyone that and that they could just do it, to get rid of this shit, this anguish that comes with it. But that would be irresponsible of me because there are external factors for people — their family, their religion, the laws of their country

Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.

I’m a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being...by the time I get through with all of the things that I really admire about people, what they do in privacy is probably so low on the list it is irrelevant.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

The Lord is my Shepherd and He knows I’m gay.

Those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, those who are transgender, transsexual or intersex, are full and equal members of the human family and are entitled to be treated as such.

The ageless cliché that everyone is equal but some are more equal than others is not acceptable. No human being should be denied their human rights simply because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. No human being should be subject to discrimination, violence, criminal sanctions or abuse simply because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ironically many of these laws, like Apartheid laws that criminalised sexual relations between consenting adults of different races, are relics of the colonial and are increasingly recognized as anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all.

The stigma attached to these issues means that violence and discrimination often go unpunished as victims dare not report their cases and the authorities do not pay sufficient attention to those who do.

Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it.

When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.

I want some day to be able to love with the same intensity and unselfishness that parents love their children with.

When you call someone a ’fag’, it identifies them with a group, a group that in today’s climate is open to harassment. So by calling someone a ’fag’, you are giving yourself and the people around you the license to either damage this individual verbally or physically.

No matter how far life pushes you down, no matter how much you hurt, you can always bounce back.

Other athletes all over the world have contacted me since, asking about the processes of coming out. I’ve spoken to maybe about 10 people, from various sports. A lot of them can’t come out – literally – because their culture or religion or society doesn’t allow them to. For me, the comforting thing is knowing that there are other athletes out there, but it is a shame that they don’t feel they can come out.

A parent who brings up a child to be a racist damages that child, damages the community in which they live, damages our hopes for a better world. A parent who teaches a child that there is only one sexual orientation and that anything else is evil denies our humanity and their own too.

Does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love? The wave of hate that is underway must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship.

My dreams! I hope to see more women being liberated or stand for what they believe in and hope to see a universe free of discrimination, torture, and violence.

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.

Not just hip-hop, but America, discriminates. And I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends- Yo, stop it!

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.