“
Amazing how eye and skin color come in many shades yet many think sexuality is just gay or straight.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
Only by speaking out can we create lasting change. And that change begins with coming out.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
My wife's the reason anything gets done, she nudges me towards promise by degrees. She is a perfect symphony of one our son is her most beautiful reprise. We chase the melodies that seem to find us until they're finished songs and start to play. When senseless acts of tragedy remind us that nothing here is promised--not one day. This show is proof that history remembers. We live in times when hate and fear seem stronger. We rise and fall and light from dying embers--remembrances that hope and love last longer. And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside. I sing Vanessa's symphony. Eliza tells her story. Now, fill the world with music, love, and pride.
”
”
Lin-Manuel Miranda
“
Like countless others, I was afraid to say this out loud because of what the consequences might be. To you, specifically, I say: I see you. I am one of you. I am and I am bisexual. History will remember us
”
”
Casey McQuiston (Red, White & Royal Blue)
“
If two people could make each other smile and laugh and forget all the pain and darkness in the world for a moment, why should we feel ashamed of it?
”
”
Leah Raeder (Cam Girl)
“
June, you have killed my sincerity too. I will never again know who I am, what I am, what I love, what I want. Your beauty has drowned me, the core of me. You carry away with you a part of me reflected in you. When your beauty struck me, it dissolved me. Deep down, I am not different from you. I dreamed you, I wished for your existence. You are the woman I want to be. I see in you that part of me which is you. I feel compassion for your childish pride, for your trembling unsureness, your dramatization of events, your enhancing of the loves given to you. I surrender my sincerity because if I love you it means we share the same fantasies, the same madness.
”
”
Anaïs Nin (The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934)
“
Conformity requires us to minimize our differences for the greater good. We fear that if we don't conform, we will be abandoned, but there is no loneliness like having people only see you after you've erased yourself.
”
”
Alok Vaid-Menon (Beyond the Gender Binary)
“
What I love about being queer is... Everything. I like that it makes me different, and I like that it makes people uncomfortable sometimes. I like that it makes people ask me lots of questions about things they probably would not normally ask people about their relationships or lifestyles. And most of all I love being queer because i get to have a girlfriend.
”
”
Tegan Quin
“
i’ll be okay
even if i don’t understand
how i don’t want to be a girl, but also don’t want to be a man
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
Sometimes it takes more than shouting it to show your pride. It takes more than a sign, a fabulous outfit, or a month of parades. Pride has to resonate from within; shine out to everyone around you. It has mean something to you and only you first before you announce it to the world.
”
”
Solange nicole
“
i can love
as Aristotle
who coined the term “philía”
loved his brothers
it isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp
but because i am not grasping someone else
you think there is something wrong with me
but i am fine
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
It's not conversion 'therapy;' it's conversion brainwashing.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
ten reasons to love being queer
viii.
the people within our community are so supportive and so caring and so loving, most of the time towards people they don’t even know
and it is in moments like that when you realize that the queer community is more than a community
we are a family
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
Black lives matter is not a black people's movement - metoo is not a women's movement - pride is not a gay people's movement - it's all humanity's movement - a movement for being accepted as humans by the humans.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar
“
THIS IS WHAT A MAN LOOKS LIKE. HE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING; HE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MUSCULAR; HE DESERVES NOT TO BE PHOTOSHOPPED. HE IS HUMAN, AND HE HAS BLEMISHES. HERE HE STANDS, VISIBLE. HE SEES YOU ALL, COUNTLESS INVISIBLE OTHERS LIKE HIM. THIS BODY IS ACCEPTABLE — PUBESCENT, AWKWARD, MARRED. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE INVISIBLE. WE ARE ALL GOOD ENOUGH. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH OUR BODIES.
”
”
Agnostic Zetetic
“
When you hear of Gay Pride, remember, it was not born out of a need to celebrate being gay.
It evolved out of our need as human beings to break free of oppression and to exist without being criminalized, pathologized or persecuted.
Depending on a number of factors, particularly religion, freeing ourselves from gay shame and coming to self-love and acceptance, can not only be an agonising journey, it can take years.
Tragically some don't make it.
Instead of wondering why there isn't a straight pride be grateful you have never needed one.
Celebrate with us.
”
”
Anthony Venn-Brown OAM (A Life of Unlearning - a journey to find the truth)
“
Love doesn't discriminate and nor should the law. Not in this country, not in this world, not in this lifetime.
”
”
Liz Kessler (Read Me Like a Book)
“
you’re such a pretty girl” they say
but they don’t see the way she recoils back from the world
as if it’s coming for her like fire, as if it burns
and it does
it burns like a flame that no one can see
so white hot and intense that it rivals the sun
it melts her skin and eats away at her flesh
until she is nothing
nothing but a skeleton that no one can call
a girl
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
The word bisexual had stood out so bright and clear in my head that all else had ceased to exist. Bisexual. I had a word. I understood; it was me… a nice clear label that said it all. I didn't have to choose. I didn’t have to be not attracted to either guys or girls — a prospect I had found utterly absurd and likely impossible, but had thought was perhaps necessary. Now it wasn’t necessary. Now it was okay to be me. I was not unheard of. Bisexual.
”
”
Harrie Farrow (Love, Sex, and Understanding the Universe)
“
Black doesn't mean dangerous, white doesn't mean trash, brown doesn't mean smuggler, muslim doesn't mean terrorist, woman doesn't mean weak, and lgbt doesn't mean sick. These are the fundamentals that we must realize if we are to build a just and humane society.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent)
“
If you think being straight means you're being discriminated against, you're probably misreading your privilege.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
the man i went on a date with did more than try to "cure me" of my asexuality
it's funny because i never thought someone's penis would be considered an antidote of any kind
and i don't think that's what my doctor meant when he told me i needed more Vitamin D in my diet
but apparently my sexuality was enough of a diagnosis for him to decide to play doctor with me
maybe he should’ve put his stethoscope up to my mouth instead of between my breasts
maybe then he would’ve heard me when i told him to stop it
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
I've always loved being gay. Sure, Kenya was not exactly Queer Nation but my sexuality gave me joy. I was young, not so dumb and full of cum! There was no place for me in heaven but I was content munching devil's pie here on earth.
”
”
Diriye Osman (Fairytales for Lost Children)
“
Persecution complexes are reaffirming to those who benefit from unearned privileges.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
Rainbow on the inside!” He giggles.
“Can you imagine if we all took them for Pride? Dozens of us. Hundreds. Thousands? All of us marching, rainbow to the core?
”
”
Fox Benwell (Kaleidoscope Song)
“
My body is a political battlefield.
It is a place of war, of death and suffering, of triumph and victory, of damage and repair, of blood and tears and sweat.
It is a place where memories go to find purpose for their existence.
It is a place where humans cast all inhibitions aside to discover what exists at their very core.
It is a place of growth wearing a mask of destruction.
It is a challenge, not for the faint of heart, beckoning us to face it with eyes wide open.
The only war is within. When you are ready to fight it, the field awaits.
”
”
Agnostic Zetetic
“
they want us to believe that to be queer, to be trans, to be confused, to be questioning is
equivalent to being a sinner
but conveniently forget that we are all sinners in God’s eyes
that every day we all sin
that sin dates all the way back to Adam and Eve, and ever since then we have all been
deemed sinners in God’s eyes
but sinners can be forgiven
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
Us LGBT folk are courageous. By coming out, we are saying that we’re ready to face any negative consequences that come our way. It’s an act of defiance, and an act of pride, and it’s something that should be applauded, not silenced.
”
”
Lucy Sutcliffe (Girl Hearts Girl)
“
You know what Pride means? PRIDE means Passionate, PRIDE means Resilient, PRIDE means Indefatigable, PRIDE means Determined, PRIDE means Equal.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Bulldozer on Duty)
“
Asexual people are not the same as heterosexual people who aren’t having sex, which is what some misunderstand them as. There is a difference between an abstinent heterosexual person and an asexual person: abstinence is a practice (a choice), while asexuality is an orientation (not a choice—a familiar distinction for LGBTQ folks). Asexual people don’t face the same oppression (unless they are asexual and some form of LGBT), but even a heteromantic asexual people are not having “the heterosexual experience” either. Just like many LGBTQ people, asexual people still have to deal with fighting society’s expectations and developing pride and confidence in their orientation.
”
”
Julie Sondra Decker
“
This is the way I address the issue if I’m asked about my sexuality: “I am a follower of Christ who happens to experience same-sex attraction.” Other Christians may struggle with all kinds of sin: gossip, greed, anger, pride, and so on. But I seriously doubt that they would identify themselves as a “greedy” Christian or a “gossiping” Christian. So why would I identity as a “gay” Christian?
”
”
Becket Cook (A Change of Affection: A Gay Man's Incredible Story of Redemption)
“
they want us to believe that the way we love is wrong
“and a man who will lie down with a male in a woman’s bed
both of them have made an abomination.”
but conveniently forget how David’s and Jonathan’s souls were knit together,
that the two of them had a bond between the two of them that was too strong to ignore
that the two of them formed a covenant with one another.
“the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,
and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
that David preferred the love of Jonathan to the love of any woman
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
As a young gay African, I have been conditioned from an early age to consider my sexuality a dangerous deviation from my true heritage as a Somali by close kin and friends. As a young gay African coming of age in London, there was another whiplash of cultural confusion that one had to recover from again and again: that accepting your sexual identity doesn’t necessarily mean that the wider LGBT community, with its own preconceived notions of what constitutes a "valid" queer identity, will embrace you any more welcomingly than your own prejudiced kinsfolk do.
”
”
Diriye Osman
“
In the LGBT community, the opposite of pride is self- hatred. But in the Bible, the opposite of pride is faith. Was pride keeping me from faith, or was pride keeping me from self-hatred? That was when the question inserted itself like a foot in the door: Did pride distort self-esteem the way lust distorts love? This was the first of my many betrayals against the LGBT community: whose dictionary did I trust? The one used by the community that I helped create or the one that reflected the God who created me? As soon as the question formed itself into words, I felt convicted of the sin of pride. Pride was my downfall. I asked God for the mercy to repent of my pride at its root.
”
”
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ)
“
This place was the “ART” that gave form to the feelings of our heartbeats. Here the consciousness of knowing you “belonged” nestled into that warm feeling of finally being HOME. And Home engenders love and loyalty quite naturally. So, we loved the Stonewall.
”
”
New York Public Library (The Stonewall Reader)
“
Have you thought about the Coming Out Thing? It gets complicated when you bring religion into the equation. Technically, Jews and Episcopalians are supposed to be gay-friendly, but it's hard to really know how that applies to your own parents. Like, you read about these gay kids with really churchy Catholic parents, and the parents end up doing PFLAG and Pride Parades and everything. And then you hear about parents who are totally fine with homosexuality, but can't handle it when their own kid comes out. You just never know.
”
”
Becky Albertalli (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Simonverse, #1))
“
Saying it's hard being straight is like complaining to the poor that it's difficult being wealthy.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
It was the only act of rebellion I knew—to be worthy of such an insult as “butterfly.
”
”
R.J. Hernández (An Innocent Fashion)
“
Il pride.
La nostra vittoria sul diluvio. Su tutti quei diluvi che cercano ogni giorno di spazzarci via come unicorni.
E invece siamo qui. Colorati e irriverenti
”
”
Leo Ortolani (Cinzia)
“
Living in a world that is grossly opposed to who you are, the bravest and most radical thing to do is to be yourself. And being a part of the LGBT+ community is just that – brave.
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
Pride is not an LGBT celebration, it's a human rights celebration - it's a celebration of equality - it's a celebration of inclusion - it's a celebration of acceptance.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (All For Acceptance)
“
Other than in bed, gender and sexuality have no role in society.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Hometown Human: To Live for Soil and Society)
“
If you think homosexuality is a sin, then your very life is a sin. If you think homosexuality is disgusting, then your very mind is disgusting. If you think homosexuality is a disease, then your very existence is a disease.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (See No Gender)
“
my blood runs pink
(for my sexuality that is mine to embrace, not yours to strike
with lightning bolts of change)
and red
(for the life i will continue to live, the life you cannot take
away from me)
and orange
(for my siblings who heal me with their love and
understanding, helping me piece myself back together after you tried
to break me)
and yellow
(for the sunlight from within that still manages to shine in
these dark times)
and green
(for existing in the natural, physical world when all you want
is my disappearance)
and blue
(for the serenity we bring amidst the disturbances we face)
and purple
(for my spirit, which won’t be broken)
(it can never be broken and you will never break us)
”
”
Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
“
To all my friends who constantly talk disparagingly about the supposed 'homosexual lifestyle' and stereotype gay people and the community, I'd like to get this straight.
There are essentially two worlds – the 'gay scene' and the gay (or LGBTIQ) community. The 'scene' is like the tip of the iceberg; what is seen by others because it is visible on a street, suburb or pride parade. Like the ninety percent of the submerged iceberg, the community is larger and less visible. It consists of organisations, groups, support networks and also gay and lesbian singles and couples living 'normal' lives in the suburbs. Occasionally there is an overlap but not often. Some live, socialise and work in both. Many never enter each others worlds. The values, lifestyles and culture of these two worlds are as different as Asian culture is to western is to African is to Middle Eastern.
Dig down even deeper below the surface and you find it is not a single community but diverse communities and subcultures that are separate but not necessarily divided. The common thing that binds them together is their experience of inequality, discrimination and their desire to make a better world for themselves, others and future generations.
If you believe that all gays and lesbians are shallow and obsessed with sex, body image, partying, nightclubs and bars then you are obviously an observer from the outside or mixing in the wrong circles.
”
”
Anthony Venn-Brown OAM (A Life of Unlearning - a journey to find the truth)
“
The conservative ideology sees LGBT rights as an affront to the traditional way of life, for some reason. We are attacked as phonies, pretenders, even perverts, just for being who we are. There are people who wish for us to go back into the shadows, the closet, never to return.
Many of these people who wish to deny us our very legitimacy, who denounce us as mentally ill deviants, spend an hour each week paying homage to an ever-present, yet non-interventionist man in the sky. They go to courts across the land to defend their right to praise that uncorroborated deity at the expense of other people’s civil liberties. To them, we the living, the transgender people who walk the earth, are fake, but the man up there, He is real.
”
”
Ian Thomas Malone (The Transgender Manifesto)
“
Even for those who have chosen to fully accept and affirm their 2SLGBTQIA+ siblings in Christ, until we let go of our narrow and prideful belief in the supremacy of the “normal”, we will not only continue to perpetuate harm to the already vulnerable, but we will deny the Church the opportunity to encounter aspects of the Divine only found in those who “transgress” those false and narrow boundaries.
”
”
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
“
I prayed that the Lord would help me to see my life from his point of view. It was then that I noticed it: as I looked around my house, I had dozens of PRIDE posters, T-shirts, coffee mugs. The flag that waved in the breeze at my porch was a PRIDE flag. Pride had become my best friend. In the LGBT world, we defined pride as a healthy self-esteem. But something started to crack a little and I dared to just ask the question: was I domesticating a tiger?
”
”
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ)
“
Thus is the defining characteristic of gay millennials: we straddle the pre-Glee and post-Glee worlds. We went to high school when faggot wasn’t even considered an F-word, when being a lesbian meant boys just didn’t want you, when being nonbinary wasn’t even a remote option. We grew up without queer characters in our cartoons or Nickelodeon or Disney or TGIF sitcoms. We were raised in homophobia, came of age as the world changed around us, and are raising children in an age where it’s never been easier to be same-sex parents. We’re both lucky and jealous. As the state of gay evolved culturally and politically, we were old enough to see it and process it and not take it for granted–old enough to know what the world was like without it. Despite the success of Drag Race, the existence of lesbian Christmas rom-coms, and openly transgender Oscar nominees, we haven’t moved on from the trauma of growing up in a culture that hates us. We don’t move on from trauma, really. We can’t really leave it in the past. It becomes a part of us, and we move forward with it.
For LGBTQ+ millennials, our pride is couched in painful memories of a culture repulsed and frightened by queerness. That makes us skittish. It makes us loud. It makes us fear that all this progress, all this tolerance , all of Billy Porter's red carpet looks can vanish as quickly as it all appeared.
”
”
Grace Perry (The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture)
“
Coming of queer age in the 1990s, to love queers was to love damage. To love damage was a path to loving yourself. ...Queers do not come out of the minefield of homophobia without scars. We do not live through out families' rejection of us, our stunted life options, the violence we've faced, the ways in which we've violated ourselves for survival, our harmful coping mechanisms, our lifesaving delusions, the altered brain chemistry we have sustained as a result of this, the low income and survival states we've endured as a result of society's loathing, unharmed. Whatever of theses wounds I didn't experience firsthand, my lovers did, and so I say that, for a time, it was not possible to have queer love that was not ins some way damaged or defined by damage sustained, even as it desperately fought through that damage to access, hopefully, increasingly frequent moments of sustaining, lifesaving love, true love, and loyalty, and electric sex.
”
”
Michelle Tea (Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms)
“
adult men enjoy having sex with one another, and they don’t harm anyone while doing so, why should it be wrong, and why should we outlaw it? It is a private matter between these two men, and they are free to decide about it according to their own personal feelings. If in the Middle Ages two men confessed to a priest that they were in love with one another, and that they had never felt so happy, their good feelings would not have changed the priest’s damning judgement – indeed, their lack of guilt would only have worsened the situation. Today, in contrast, if two men are in love, they are told: ‘If it feels good – do it! Don’t let any priest mess with your mind. Just follow your heart. You know best what’s good for you.’ Interestingly enough, today even religious zealots adopt this humanistic discourse when they want to influence public opinion. For example, every year for the past decade the Israeli LGBT community has held a gay pride parade in the streets of Jerusalem. It’s a unique day of harmony in this conflict-riven city, because it is the one occasion when religious Jews, Muslims and Christians suddenly find a common cause – they all fume in accord against the gay parade. What’s really interesting, though, is the argument they use. They don’t say, ‘These sinners shouldn’t hold a gay parade because God forbids homosexuality.’ Rather, they explain to every available microphone and TV camera that ‘seeing a gay parade passing through the holy city of Jerusalem hurts our feelings. Just as gay people want us to respect their feelings, they should respect ours.’ On 7 January 2015 Muslim fanatics massacred several staff members of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, because the magazine published caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. In the following days, many Muslim organisations condemned the attack, yet some could not resist adding a ‘but’ clause. For example, the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate denounced the terrorists for their use of violence, but in the same breath denounced the magazine for ‘hurting the feelings of millions of Muslims across the world’.2 Note that the Syndicate did not blame the magazine for disobeying God’s will. That’s what we call progress.
”
”
Yuval Noah Harari (Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow)
“
There is a lingering pain that comes with some people’s LGBT identity, especially in a society that has shamed their desires and forced them to fight for an opportunity to declare pride. Some of this shame can be deeply internalized, even if it’s overcome in practice (and mostly so in attitude). LGBT people may believe the asexual people who want their support have never fought this type of shame and may not accept that “your orientation doesn’t exist” can be as damaging as “your orientation means you’re bad.” Asexual people are usually perceived as sexually conservative or sexually abstinent, and LGBT people may have been attacked for the sex they may desire, so it could be very difficult for them to accept that someone who embodies a supposedly “ideal state” they’ve been pressured to emulate could possibly have comparable problems in Western society.
”
”
Julie Sondra Decker (The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality)
“
Going out in tights and wigs and drag, it takes a whole lot of courage...And those gays, they're just being themselves. And I think we owe a whole lot to them, because they're going out risking their lives just to be who they are, just so we can exist.
”
”
Kyle Labe (Butterflies Behind Glass & Other Stories)
“
Coming out of the closet was one of the most liberating things I’ve done in my life. All the worry, concern, anxiety, all that mental chatter was gone. I didn’t have to carry a secret on my shoulder anymore. Fear, doubt, shame, and worry was suddenly replaced with love and pride.
”
”
Joel Annesley (Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up With Shyness)
“
Straight and queer are products of a bipolar world,
In the sanctuary of love there's no straight, no queer.
In love's domain queer is straight, straight is queer,
A heart full of love and light is radiantly nonpolar.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Amor Apocalypse: Canım Sana İhtiyacım)
“
Proud - Another thing that our generation is filled with is pride. I penned an entire chapter about the “pride” of the LGBT community in my previous book. Their pride is no different than that of Lucifer. Pride is rebellion against the LORD and His Will. To be proud is to be self-centered, and to take great pleasure in a certain aspect of your life - whether looks, accomplishments, or lifestyle. Your way is the right way, and you could care less what others have to say or for what God thinks. The LGBTQ movement is a perfect example of the pride of the devil, because in their proud attitude they actually celebrate their sin. They are more than happy to rebel against Almighty God, because they feel that they’re right and He’s wrong. A lot of them are well aware that His Word says the way they are living is morally wrong, but they just don’t care. As long as it makes them feel good, the opinion of their Creator takes a back seat. It’s about them, and only them. They remind me of Lucifer with his five “I”s. We read in Isaiah 14:12-14, he said, “I will... I will... I will... I will... I will...” He was so puffed up in pride that he even said he would “be like” God. The LORD rebuked him, and said, no... “you will be brought down to Hell.” We all know how things turned
”
”
Michael Sawdy (Even More Signs of Our Times: MORE Biblical Reasons Why This Could Be the Generation of the Rapture)
“
RORY O’NEILL: Older gays – for want of a better description – they were used to going on marches. They still don’t think the Pride parade is a parade, they think of it as a march. They’re used to being politically engaged and fighting for things. They remember Declan Flynn getting murdered. They remember decriminalisation. It’s just part of their DNA. Obviously as you get older, most people, gay and straight, find it hard to keep up the energy for those kinds of things except for the ones who are very dedicated; the GLENs and the Marriage Equalitys and the Ailbhe Smyths and so on. The younger gays, that wasn’t part of their DNA. Going out on a march was something they never did. … They’ve never been out on the streets. To them, going out on the streets was a big party on Pride where they wore wigs and skipped along, which is great, and I love that and it’s fabulous. But it’s not a protest. They had no connection to that. And so I think [LGBT] Noise gave them not only an opportunity, but also an excuse to get involved in something like that. I think it made younger people feel they were useful. Suddenly they felt they had a power. You went to those marches, of course you did. The Marriage Equality marches, the Noise marches, there was a real energy about that, wasn’t there? A sense of all these young people out with their placards. I’m quite sure a lot of them had never walked down the street with a placard in their lives.
”
”
Una Mullally (In the Name of Love: The Movement for Marriage Equality in Ireland. An Oral History)
“
They will see my pride burning so brightly, though it was confined to a box. My hand will once again be held, warm in the grasp of another. For I was not ready to be forsaken into the earth. I was born in the hot, unforgiving sun, and I finally know my purpose in life. For though I was buried alive, and nobody thought to check on me, I had learned to love again.
”
”
Austin-Alexius Klein (Harm Unlimited)
“
The LGBT pride flag represents more than the “fundamental human rights,” like the right to life, of those who identify as LGBT. Indeed, for many people who fly the pride flag, those “fundamental rights” include the right to “marry” people of the same sex, which the Catholic Church opposes. The Church doesn’t just oppose Catholics engaging in same-sex “marriages”; it opposes society’s attempts to redefine something God created for humanity. The State can no more validly redefine marriage than it can redefine “womanhood” or “humanity” (though it certainly tries). This design is so deeply engrained into human nature that it makes same-sex “marriage” as impossible as a square circle.
”
”
Trent Horn (Confusion in the Kingdom : How "Progressive" Catholicism Is Bringing Harm and Scandal to the Church)
“
As she begins to roll a joint, 1 look over to the fuchsia bushes and keep my attention there, not on the imperfect way she wears the bikini. Too big in places, and too small in others, and yet she wears it so defiantly that it suits her, like it's supposed to fit wrong. Parts of her are burning in the sun; I will not look. The pride, the nonchalance, the honesty of her body. I could never invite imperfection this way. How well she wears it.
”
”
Chloe Michelle Howarth (Sunburn)
“
For all of you out there, visible & invisible. Closeted or out & proud. Femme & Masc & every glorious stripe on the rainbow in between.
You incandescent queens, deliciously undefinable androgynous souls, chivalrous butches, tomboy dykes, drop-dead yet still invisible femmes. You with your flare, your flamboyance, your rugged individuality, your glorious diversity, your insistence on being seen, your quiet but steady presence in the places that matter. You, the cliche and every unexpected exception. The world’s stereotypes brought to blazing life & you who smashes the boxes & changes the paradigms & refuses to be painted into place. You, who knows that queer looks, speaks, sounds & moves through this world in a million different ways. You, the grieving. You the dancing. You, the proud & the humble & the defiant & the free.
Whatever label you choose & define for yourself.
Whatever identity feels like home to you.
However you have come to know & name yourself & your good, good, love.
You are my family.
I see you.
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Jeanette LeBlanc
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In the LGBT community, the opposite of pride is self- hatred. But in the Bible, the opposite of pride is faith. Was pride keeping me from faith, or was pride keeping me from self-hatred?
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Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ)
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You want to know what gets on my nerves? When people say 'you can't be a Christian because you're LGBT+, or you used to be a Muslim/Hindu/atheist/pretty much anything else really'. The reason people say those things is because we believe doing so is sinning, but haven't we all sinned? Aren't we all in the same boat, at the mercy of the storm raging outside? If so, why keep to ourselves in what we think is the safest corner, but the whole boat sinks nonetheless? Every sin, whether it's stealing a cookie from the cookie jar to murdering and robbing an innocent child is sin. Even if you have never done any wrong, except did one thing, isn't your soul still poisoned, still doomed to being a sinner? Why must we separate ourself because we believe we are 'righteous', when in doing so we simply dirty ourselves in sinful dust even more so, yet continue to believe ourselves better then anyone else? If you don't think you are worthy, or can possibly be righteous, well, I'm afraid your not on track. The only reason we are even not-dead-yet is because a perfect soul died after never sinning, Jesus payed the price we so selfishly went into debt for because we wanted temporary satisfaction and worthless paper called money. If we have all been called to be clean, why must we refuse this and say others are dirty, when if that's true we are dirty as well ourselves? We sink the boat we are on to see others drown, yet in the process we drown ourselves. We have been selfish, lazy, prideful, and sinful, every one of is, and yet are so blind we cannot even see the great light that calls us to be clean and perfect. There is no such thing as too far gone, so why do we say others are too far gone yet set the bar lower for ourselves? Are we more perfect, more righteous, more forgiven then people who don't know God as well as we do? Surely not! If we know God, instead of keeping him to ourselves we are quite clearly instructed to give freely in the Bible, and yet we refuse to do so for the sake of our sinful pride. Why do we not reach down, and get our knees dirty to help the poor? What is stopping us from going that extra mile, from giving more then you have, from reaching out with the great news of the savior? We are too prideful, we don't want our silken robes to get muddy in someone else's sin even when they're already disgusting in ours. We tell ourselves we're are too tired to walk the extra mile, yet powerful enough to strike down the needy and ones in poverty. We are too greedy, we would rather keep the Savior to ourselves then give it, even though in giving you get even more. What right do we have to choose who should come with us into heaven? What heavenly authority gave us the power to say 'you sin, you cannot come to heaven', even though we sinners think we can when there is no difference between us? Any one can truly believe, there is no 'special requirement' to be a Christian other then to know God exists (well, duh you didn't need to tell us that) and to know you are a sinner and to try to not sin, even though we all fail miserably at that, and to love God with all your heart and soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as much as God loves them. (No, autocorrect is not a human, I hate it too). There is no human on earth who is perfect, if you believe yourself to be so you are even more wrong then before. If there is anyone reading this, who is suicidal or LGBT+ and have been bullied or just don't know, trust me, there is nothing, NOTHING preventing you from believing except for your own will. I don't know if this is a quote or a rant ;;
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Unicornfarts2000
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Like things such as sexism and homophobia, racism is an acquired taste.
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Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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Could these groundbreaking and often unsung activists have imagined that only forty years later the 'official' gay rights agenda would be largely pro-police, pro-prisons, and pro-war - exactly the forces they worked so hard to resist? Just a few decades later, the most visible and well-funded arms of the 'LGBT movement' look much more like a corporate strategizing session than a grassroots social justice movement. There are countless examples of this dramatic shift in priorities. What emerged as a fight against racist, anti-poor, and anti-queer police violence now works hand in hand with local and federal law enforcement agencies - district attorneys are asked to speak at trans rallies, cops march in Gay Pride parades. The agendas of prosecutors - those who lock up our family, friends, and lovers - and many queer and trans organizations are becomingly increasingly similar, with sentence- and police-enhancing legislation at the top of the priority list. Hate crimes legislation is tacked on to multi-billion dollar 'defense' bills to support US military domination in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Despite the rhetoric of an 'LGBT community,' transgender and gender-non-conforming people are our 'lead' organizations - most recently in the 2007 gutting of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of gender identity protections. And as the rate of people (particularly poor queer and trans people of color) without steady jobs, housing, or healthcare continues to rise, and health and social services continue to be cut, those dubbed the leaders of the 'LGBT movement' insist that marriage rights are the way to redress the inequalities in our communities.
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Eric A. Stanley (Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex)
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The current socio-political climate, exacerbated by the media's addiction to falsifying our existence, has meant that being trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming in the twenty-first century feels like constantly trying to prove your existence... When we have to venture into the world, where we aren't heard, or listened to, it can feel like we are shouting against the wind.
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Jamie Windust (In Their Shoes: Navigating Non-Binary Life)
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May it be masks, religion, caste or creed- everybody looks alike with colours on their visage. Colours don't hide but make each individual equal. And that's why Holi is my favourite festival.
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Shalaka Kulkarni (Orenda - flash fiction based in modern India)
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I experience a kind of serenity, a general rightness with the world, and acceptance of my being and my eventual fate now that I finally have achieved true selfhood. I don’t hate myself anymore, I’m no longer apologetic for my very existence. I walk with pride, I feel exceptionally fortunate, grateful to whatever force cracked my egg before it was too late, I was saved from drowning.
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Lucy Sante (I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition)
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Having visibility – and real-life role models – really matters.
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Ella Braidwood
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If I had taken the initiative to seek out information about the LGBT rights movement, I would have found that it was a Black trans woman, Marsha P. Johnson, a Latinx trans woman, Sylvia Rivera, and a butch lesbian, Stormé DeLarverie, who were the catalysts of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, which led to the first ever Pride march, which birthed the Gay Rights Movement, which became the LGBT movement. But I didn’t, largely because I assumed that, much like the majority of the history that we are taught in the British academic syllabus, it was cisgender, white, gay men that initiated that movement.
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Munroe Bergdorf (Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition)
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Let me say it again so that there is no mistake: Even for those who have chosen to fully accept and affirm their 2SLGBTQIA+ siblings in Christ, until we let go of our narrow and prideful belief in the supremacy of the “normal”, we will not only continue to perpetuate harm to the already vulnerable, but we will deny the Church the opportunity to encounter aspects of the Divine only found in those who “transgress” those false and narrow boundaries.
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Jamie Arpin-Ricci
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We don't wake up choosing to BE LGBTQ. RATHER, we do choose to love; or if not love, to respect, as opposed to hating others.
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Marcus Moutra
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To all of my fellow believers, who are supporting the LGBT community in their pride: you yourselves need to repent and get right with God almost as much as they do. By standing with them, you are endorsing and supporting their sins against the LORD. This is almost as bad as committing the sins yourself.
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Michael Sawdy (The Signs of Our Times: 12 Biblical Reasons Why This Could Be the Generation of the Rapture)
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I have a dream - that one day, black people won't be black - white people won't be white - brown people won't be brown - gay people won't be gay - straight people won't be straight - women won't be women - men won't be men - the trans won't be trans - believers won't be believers and non-believers won't be non-believers - instead, we all will be just human.
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Abhijit Naskar (Every Generation Needs Caretakers: The Gospel of Patriotism)
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the real problem is
dogs can take a piss in public
but human beings are still fighting to
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Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
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God is fighting for us, for we are His children first and foremost
God loves us for who we are, for who He made us out to be
and there is no greater sin than to try and convince us otherwise.
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Courtney Carola (Have Some Pride: A Collection of LGBTQ+ Inspired Poetry)
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I wanted that bold nonchalance for myself. I wanted to feel confident when I showed a man affection, not just within the walls of an apartment or the relative safety of a gay bar, not just during Pride. I wanted to kiss a man whenever and wherever I felt like it—on a sidewalk in the rain, at a crowded bus stop, in a shopping mall parking lot on a Monday afternoon. I wanted to kiss a man whose presence made the rest of the world vanish into irrelevance, a man whose touch erased every tinge of fear and every knot of knee-jerk shame I'd felt for having the audacity to display a love like mine in a world like ours.
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Kirby Lighthouse (Patrick)
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G: Did you ever go through a period of trying to imitate boys?
F: When I thought it was wrong to be a lesbian, what I did then was really go over into trying to cut off all of my male behavior, to the point of shaving my arms! I thought that anybody who looked at my arms would know immediately that I had hair on them and that was a sure sign of lesbianism! So I went the other way really. I didn’t go into the male role. I went into trying to hide it from everybody else until I figured it out.
G: So you figured it out?
F: Yeah, it was like a secret that I didn’t want anybody else to know until I was able to handle the situation and cope with my feelings about it. And during that period, I changed into being-- into acting the female role. During that time I would just go off by myself for long periods of time. And this happened for several years.
G: When did you really feel that you were strong enough to openly be what you were?
F: That went on until Jeanne happened. And then I had it all together. Jeanne was all I needed to know it was right. And then I had thought it all out, all the angles of it. Enough to hit anybody who went against it.
G: How old were you when that happened?
F: Twenty.
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Gina Covina (New Lesbians)