15 powerful quotes from the LGBT community

Celebrate Pride with these powerful quotes (Picture: Getty)

For Pride Week, Metro.co.uk is celebrating the LGBT+ community through a series of articles.

You’ll find a whole host of powerful first-person stories, exclusive opinions, helpful explainers, and more.

Although the parades, parties, and sequin rainbow costumes are super fun, it’s important to remember what Pride is all about – to commemorate the Stonewall riots, and to celebrate the LGBT+ community.

Sometimes, if you can’t find the right words to pay your respects or articulate how you feel, it’s good to turn to someone else.

Here are some of the most powerful quotes from figureheads, change-makers and inspirational figures within the community.

Powerful Pride Week quotes

‘Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.’ – Barbara Gittings

‘I am a strong, black, lesbian woman. Every single time I say it, I feel so much better.’ – Brittney Griner

‘It takes no compromise to give people their rights … it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.’ – Harvey Milk

‘If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.’ – Zanele Muholi

‘We are not what other people say we are. We are who we know ourselves to be, and we are what we love. That’s okay.’ – Laverne Cox

‘So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.’ – Tom Cook

‘I was not ladylike, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.’ – Michael Cunningham

‘This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another.’ – Elliot Page

‘Gender and sexuality are so fluid. It’s OK to change your mind a million times and figure out what works for you. It’s OK to take your time.’ – Amanda Stenberg

‘This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another.’ – Elliot Page (Picture: Getty)

‘Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love.’ – Lin-Manuel Miranda

‘I’ve been embraced by a new community. That’s what happens when you’re finally honest about who you are: You find others like you.’ – Chaz Bono

‘If a transvestite doesn’t say I’m gay and I’m proud and I’m a transvestite, then nobody else is going to hop up there and say I’m gay and I’m proud and I’m a transvestite for them.’ – Marsha P. Johnson

‘Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.’ – Harvey Fierstein

 ‘Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start.’ – Jason Collins 

‘I think being gay is a blessing, and it’s something I am thankful for every single day.’ – Anderson Cooper

MORE : Ultimate UK LGBT Pride calendar 2021: Dates, times and locations

MORE : How did rainbows become a symbol of LGBTQ+ Pride and what does it mean?

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