123 Proud and Colorful LGBTQ Quotes About Inclusivity and Equal Treatment
The change in the way society faces homosexuality, bisexuality or transgender people has probably been one of the major shifts in western-civilization mentality in the last century. These colorful LGBTQ quotes summarize the society’s modern views on inclusivity and equal treatment regardless of one’s sexual orientation.
Although homosexuality was quite common in Ancient Greece and Rome, Judeo-Christian and Muslim cultures have considered any non-heterosexual behavior as an act of sin. Nowadays, things have advanced legally, scientifically and socially, so that homosexuals, bisexuals, trans and queer people don’t bear the unfair stigma that they used to do up until the 70’s. Today it’s been almost 50 years since psychology hasn’t been listing homosexuality as a disorder anymore, and same-sex marriage or similar legal-binding contracts have been established by law in many countries around the world.
In June of 1969, a police raid that targeted gay people at the Stonewall Inn bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City led to a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community. The events were called the Stonewall riots, and in 1970, on the anniversary of the uprising, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. This was what established the Pride Parades, outdoor events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer social and self acceptance. Today, Pride Parades have million of attendees in various cities around the globe, like Madrid, Tel Aviv, São Paulo, Johannesburg, and New York city.
This collection of quotes will inspire you, making it clear that equal rights for all don’t mean less rights for some. Although same-sex love is fully accepted in several parts of the world, it is still considered a crime that can even lead to the death penalty in other countries, so the right to equality and inclusion is not a given, but rather an ongoing fight for human .
Table of Contents
- Best Quotes to Celebrate Pride Month
- Short and Powerful Pride Quotes for Equality and Inclusion
- Empowering LGBTQ Quotes To Give You Strength and Pride
- Pride Quotes About Self-Acceptance
- Funny LGBTQ Quotes
- Civil Rights and LGBTQ Movement Quotes
- Pride Parade Quotes
- Famous LGBTQ Quotes
Best Quotes to Celebrate Pride Month
- Love is never wrong. Melissa Etheridge
- We are powerful because we have survived. Audre Lorde
- Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. James Baldwin
- There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. George Sand
- There is no sexuality that is greater or lesser than another. Jasmine Guy
- I’m not missing a minute of this. It’s the revolution! Sylvia Rivera
- You don’t have to be gay to be a supporter—you just have to be a human. Daniel Radcliffe
- There’s no better time than now to be who you are. Boy George
- All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. Harvey Milk
- Don’t be afraid; people are so afraid; don’t be afraid to live in the raw wind, naked, alone…Learn at least this: what you are capable of. Let nothing stand in your way. Tony Kushner
- Love doesn’t care how much money you have. It doesn’t care who your parents are. It doesn’t care if you’re gay, straight, or transgender. Rumer Willis
- How can people change their minds about us if they don’t know who we are? Harvey Milk
- It’s time we love people for who they are and let them love who they want. Ellen DeGeneres
- You know, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender – people are people. Judith Light
- The day we stop resisting our instincts, we’ll have learned how to live. Federico Garcia Lorca
- This community has fought and continues to fight a war of acceptance, a war of tolerance and the most relentless bravery. You are the definition of courage, do you know that? Lady Gaga
Short and Powerful Pride Quotes for Equality and Inclusion
- We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame, and without compromise. Elliot Page
- Hope will never be silent. Harvey Milk
- You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights. Marsha P Johnson
- I am a strong, black, lesbian woman. Every single time I say it, I feel so much better. Brittney Griner
- I think the world has a place for gay superheroes, certainly. Stan Lee
- 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
- The Lord is my Shepherd and He knows I’m gay. Troy Perry
- The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself. Gore Vidal
- Gay, straight, bi, whatever – it doesn’t matter. Love is love. Amber Liu
- I believe that marriage isn’t between a man and a woman; but between love and love. Frank Ocean
- Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. Dalai Lama
- Obviously, no LGBT person should be denied the ability to be who they are because their boss disagrees. Gloria Steinem
- This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another. Ellen Page
- We are all doing drag. Every single person on this planet is doing it. RuPaul
- Race, gender, religion, sexuality, we are all people and that’s it. We’re all people. We’re all equal. Connor Franta
Empowering LGBTQ Quotes To Give You Strength and Pride
- No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow. Alice Walker
- If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself. Zanele Muholi
- When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. Audre Lorde
- My sexuality is my own sexuality. It doesn’t belong to anybody. Not to my government, not to my brother, my sister, my family. No. Ashraf Zanati
- You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all. James Baldwin
- 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
- Your judgments about another person say more about your own character than the character of the person you’re pointing a finger at. Alaric Hutchinson
- It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
- 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
- Being born gay, black and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay, black female is. Lena Waithe
- I believe that no one should ever have to choose between a career we love and living our lives with authenticity and integrity. Selisse Berry
- Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do. Brené Brown
- Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t ever apologize for your sexuality. Just be you. Sonya Deville
- It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. Audre Lorde
Pride Quotes About Self-Acceptance
- To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance. Oscar Wilde
- There will always be enemies. Time to stop being your own. Larry Kramer
- For me, the transgender thing is the reality of my life. It’s the reality of my existence and it’s something that I’ve come to believe is beautiful about me. Laverne Cox
- 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
- There is nothing wrong with you. There’s a lot wrong with the world you live in. Chris Colfer
- Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself. Coco Chanel
- The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability. Anthony Venn Brown
- This is why homophobia is a terrible evil: it disguises itself as concern while it is inherently hate. Tyler Oakley
- I think being gay is a blessing, and it’s something I am thankful for every single day. Anderson Cooper
- Being gay isn’t something you choose, but you do face choices about whether and how to discuss it. Pete Buttigieg
- I realize that just living my truth of what I am, there’s one less person to fight me in my own head. Raven-Symoné
- Nature made a mistake, which I have corrected. I am now your daughter. Christine Jorgensen
- So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me. Tim Cook
- 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
- 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. Amandla Stenberg
- I think it’s important for parents to educate themselves, too, and be open, and realizing that your children are their own person and if they may or may not act the way you want them to in terms of gender expression that that’s OK. Laverne Cox
Funny LGBTQ Quotes
- I fell out of the womb and landed in my mother’s high heels. Leslie Jordan
- Gays are not interested in making other people gay…But homophobes are interested in making others homophobic. Stephen Fry
- I hate the word homophobia. It’s not a phobia. You’re not scared. You’re an a**hole. Morgan Freeman
- There are worst things in life than kissing boys. Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- It is a testament to my parents that they never reacted negatively to the four-year-long pride parade that marched through their house. Tina Fey
- Do we have to know who’s gay and who’s straight? Can’t we just love everybody and judge them by the car they drive? Ellen DeGeneres
- Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common. Dorothy Parker
- Gender is between your ears and not between your legs. Chaz Bono
- It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It’s like disapproving of rain. Francis Maude
- The good thing about being gay, though, I always believed, is that you didn’t make anyone go to a wedding. Nobody wants to go to a wedding. Nobody. It kind of bothers me now that you have to go to gay weddings, too. I don’t care. It’s still a wedding. And I would give anybody double gifts if they would elope. David Sedaris
Civil Rights and LGBTQ Movement Quotes
- If you help elect more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised a green light to move forward. Harvey Milk
- There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it’s now okay to express ourselves publicly. We make that day by doing things publicly until it’s simply the way things are. Tammy Baldwin
- 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. Tammy Baldwin
- We have to do it because we can no longer stay invisible. We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. Sylvia Rivera
- I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. Janet Mock
- Gay rights are human rights. Hillary Clinton
- Marriage is a language of love, equality, and inclusion. Evan Wolfson
- I’m very fluid, and I think love is love. You can find it in any gender. Demi Lovato
- I am proud, that I found the courage to deal the initial blow to the hydra of public contempt. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
- Stonewall represented, absolutely, the first time that the LGBT community successfully fought back and forged an organized movement and community. Mark Segal
- We are at the forefront of telling our own narrative. It’s not at the hands of other people who are outside the community anymore. It’s so dreamy—I just feel so blessed to have lived long enough to see this day. Billy Porter
- History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities. Marsha P. Johnson
- 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
- Enabling the recognition of committed relationships is perfectly consistent with the Conservative belief that commitment underpins society. We do not seek to change marriage but to spread it. Francis Maude
- It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
- Our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizen of this country. Zachary Quinto
- Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges. Bob Paris
- When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free. Barack Obama
- The more I’ve been able to learn about gay rights and equal pay and gender equity and racial inequality, the more that it all intersects. You can’t really pick it apart. It’s all intertwined. Megan Rapinoe
Pride Parade Quotes
- Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start. Jason Collins
- We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers. Bayard Rustin
- Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? Ernest J. Gaines
- When you put love out in the world it travels, and it can touch people and reach people in ways that we never even expected. Laverne Cox
- You look ridiculous if you dance. You looks ridiculous if you don’t dance. So you might as well dance. Gertrude Stein
- Gender is the poetry each of us makes out of the language we are taught. Leslie Feinberg
- Darling, I want my gay rights now. Marsha P. Johnson
- The next time someone asks you why LGBT Pride marches exist or why Gay Pride Month is June tell them, ‘A bisexual woman named Brenda Howard thought it should be.’ Brenda Howard
- When we’re free to love anyone we choose
When this world’s big enough for all different views
When we all can worship from our own kind of pew
Then we shall be free.
Garth Brooks
Famous LGBTQ Quotes
- I learned compassion from being discriminated against. Everything bad that’s ever happened to me has taught me compassion. Ellen DeGeneres
- LGBT people are some of the bravest and most potent change agents and leaders I have encountered, and the most forceful defenders of the vulnerable and voiceless, because they know what it’s like to be there. Ronan Farrow
- I’m living by example by continuing on with my career and having a full, rich life, and I am incidentally gay. Portia de Rossi
- I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love. Neil Patrick Harris
- What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains. Tennessee Williams
- I want to do the right thing and not hide anymore. I want to march for tolerance, acceptance and understanding. I want to take a stand and say, ‘Me, too.’ Jason Collins
- The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud. Anderson Cooper
- We are not actually equal – humanity – if we are not allowed to freely love one another. Lady Gaga
- What I preach is: People fall in love with people, not gender, not looks, not whatever. What I’m in love with exists on almost a spiritual level. Miley Cyrus
- I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place, I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. Desmond Tutu
- I’m a young, bisexual woman, and I’ve spent a large part of my life trying to validate myself—to my friends, to my family, to myself—trying to prove that who I love and how I feel is not a phase. Halsey
- We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone. Orson Welles
- It still strikes me as strange that anyone could have any moral objection to someone else’s sexuality. It’s like telling someone else how to clean their house. River Phoenix
- I’m nonbinary, so I just don’t see myself as a woman, solely. I feel all of my energy. I feel like God is so much bigger than the ‘he’ or the ‘she.’ If I am from God, I am everything. I am everything, but I will always, always stand with women. I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything beyond the binary. Janelle Monáe
- If anyone is brave and true to themselves, it’s my gay fans. The amount of confidence and fearlessness it takes to do what maybe is not what your parents expect you to do or what society may think is different—to be brave and be different and to be yourself—is just so beautiful. Beyoncé
- The more I accept myself as a genderless human being, in a way, the more I’m loving my body. Sam Smith
- They made me feel not afraid to be different. I was blown away by people’s bravery, and courage and outspokenness, and…not bowing down to fear. That, in turn, inspired me. Madonna
- So while I might not want to constantly be asked about my sexuality and just be me, a big part of me is my love of women. So I guess I’m talking about it until it’s no longer seen as something to talk about. Hayley Kiyoko
- A woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and a woman together are beautiful. Drew Barrymore
- I am not gay, but if I were, I would be the first one running out of the closet. Dolly Parton
- But I’m not a saint yet. I’m an alcoholic. I’m a drug addict. I’m homosexual. I’m a genius. Of course, I could be all four of these dubious things and still be a saint. Truman Capote
- There are some people in this world that believe being gay is a choice. It’s not a choice, we’re born this way. Lady Gaga
- I got to the place I was fighting as I was writing my book between saying, ‘Am I gay? Am I bisexual? Am I gay? Am I bisexual?’ And either is okay, just go within and do not lie to yourself. Ricky Martin
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