“College is where I found my queerness, where I began to complicate my gender, where I learned to link my queerness to my politics.”— Ben Kesslen, them.us
“My current therapist likes to say that exercise in any form is a gift we give ourselves. It’s a gift of action, of honoring the body by moving it, flexing it, challenging it. It’s a gift of satisfaction.”— Conley Lyons, them.us
“Trans boys and girls all around the world- don’t let anybody tell you that you’re not perfect just because you’re being who you are. Keep on going— embrace yourself. You are beautiful no matter what.”— Cameron Kasky, twitter.com
“Queerness and autism are both marginalized identities that make navigating society difficult; thus, I crave companionship and solidarity in both communities. In order to do this, I need queer spaces that are more accessible to autistic people.”— Chrysanthe Tan, them.us
“The way men meet each other has changed over the years — from bathhouses to chatrooms and now to apps like Grindr.”— Lauren Strapagiel, buzzfeed.com
“Do it. Just say something. No, don’t. Don’t stare. Side-hug and leave. No. Ask for her number. Why are you panicking? She’s just a girl”— Alyson Stoner, teenvogue.com
“For the love of god, no matter what response you choose, please don’t be awkward about it.”— Jacob Tobia, buzzfeed.com
“That's what flags are for. Flags are about proclaiming power...that visibility is key to our success and to our justice.”— Gilbert Baker, cbc.ca
“I decided that we should have a flag, that a flag fit us as a symbol, that we are a people, a tribe if you will. And flags are about proclaiming power, so it's very appropriate.”— Gilbert Baker, rollingstone.com
“I think that there's some prison factory in China somewhere where LGBT people can't come out, are living lives of desperation, and they're churning out rainbow tchotchkes for gay pride parades for people that don't even know the history of what they're wearing and waving.”— Gilbert Baker, cbc.ca
“We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that.”— Gilbert Baker, cnn.com
“They had a whole code of emblems that they used to oppress people, and we needed something to answer that.”— Gilbert Baker, cbc.ca
“Up until the rainbow flag, the pink triangle was the dominant symbol for our movement. But it was negative. It had a depressing origin. You know, Holocaust and murder was put on us by Hitler. We needed something from us.”— Gilbert Baker, npr.org
“So much suffering inflicted on so many LGBT Catholics by their own church. So much misery from the hands of those who are supposed to be their pastors. We must call this what it is: abuse. An intrinsic evil.”— James Martin, SJ, twitter.com
“For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people. Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men a…”— Coretta Scott King, en.wikiquote.org
“Dad finds out that his first daughter is lesbian... Dad: Oh ok then. Second daughter: I'm a lesbian too... Dad: For fuck's sake is there anyone in this family who loves men? Son: I do...”— xLionel775, reddit.com
“The way that a story can make change is so much faster than the way that politics can make change. You create culture that has a story in it that says something as radical as ‘trans people are people’ and then laws follow.”— Jeff Bezos, recode.net
“The crimes of Christianity are real. The power of Christianity is real. And when forgiveness and compassion are real, redemption is real, too.”— Jacob Geers, amazon.com
“Fear is inherent when having an 'unconventional' sexual orientation. The fear of who will accept you or not, the fear of physical attack, the racing heartbeat you feel every single time you come out to someone - over and over again through your entire life.”— Jacob Geers, amazon.com