In June, there have historically been parades, protests, drag performances, live theater, and memorials and celebrations of life for community members who have died as a result of HIV/AIDS.
It is both political activity and half celebration of the LGBTQ community’s accomplishments throughout the years.
Pride month is commemorated in June to commemorate the event known as the Stonewall Uprising, a catalyst in the Gay Liberation Movement.
On June 28, 1969, police stormed The Stonewall Inn, a prominent homosexual bar in New York City’s West Village.
This was standard practice at the time, but on this particular occasion, the clients of the bar retaliated, sparking the Stonewall Riots, which lasted several days.
In order to celebrate this important month and pay homage to all of those who fought for LGBT rights, here are some brilliant pride quotes that will fit perfectly with your social media posts.
1. Chaz Bono
“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.”
2. Cassandra Duffy
“The beauty of standing up for your rights is others see you standing and stand up as well.”
3. Harvey Milk
“Hope will never be silent.”
4. Pete Buttigieg
“Being gay isn’t something you choose, but you do face choices about whether and how to discuss it.”
5. Lena Waithe
“To be yourself is truly a revolutionaryact, and I think more and more people should try it, because it’s gotten me a pretty cool life.”
6. Harvey Fierstein
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life. Define yourself.”
7. Tammy Baldwin
“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.”
8. Rachel Maddow
“The single best thing about coming out of the closet is that nobody can insult you by telling you what you’ve just told them.”
9. Barbara Gittings
“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.”
10. Megan Rapinoe
“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.”
11. Larry Kramer
“Being gay is a natural normal beautiful variation on being human. Period. End of subject. Therefore, any argument which says differently is an immoral supremacist one.
Call it out as such. Be outraged, offended, angry and intolerant of any discussion or anyone who describes you as unequal, undeserving or unnatural for being just as you are.”
12. Ronan Farrow
“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.”
13. Margaret Cho
“If public figures came out of the closet, then the LGBT kids who saw them on TV would feel safe before they even knew why they felt dangerous.
Maybe if enough people came out of the closet, gay kids would never feel dangerous. Maybe we could have a world where we could all just live. We may not all agree, but why can’t we just all live?”
14. Ralph Stripey Guy Emmerson
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
15. George Takei
“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.”
16. Bob Paris
“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.”
17. Lady Gaga
“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?”
18. Lady Gaga
“You are the ultimate power and you have never been so visible in the world! And that beautiful light and that rainbow is shining all around you. Stand in it. Bask in it. Allow yourself to glow in it as we grow. Take that spotlight, it belongs to you.”
19. Jeanette Winterson
“Love demands expression. It will not stay still, stay silent, be good, be modest, be seen and not heard, no. It will break out in tongues of praise, the high note that smashes the glass and spills the liquid.”
20. Zachary Quinto
“Our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizen of this country.”
21. Beyoncé
“If you’re part of a group that’s called “other” — a group that does not get the chance to be centre stage — build your own stage, and make them see you.
Your queerness is beautiful, your Blackness is beautiful, your compassion, your understanding, your fight for people who may be different from you is beautiful.”
22. Sir Ian McKellen
“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.”
23. Janet Mock
“I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion and violence. It can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence and community.”
24. RuPaul Charles
“We must remember that our greatest strength is in our love of life and colors, beauty and music, dancing and joy. That is our secret weapon.
That is something that the opposition does not have. Keep those things near and dear to your heart because in times of war that will sustain you.”
25. Marsha P. Johnson
“You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.”
26. Audre Lorde
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
27. Audre Lorde
“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.”
28. Ban Ki-moon
“We declare that human rights are for all of us, all the time: whoever we are and wherever we are from; no matter our class, our opinions, our sexual orientation.”
29. Desmond Tutu
“We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know.
We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders. All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all. We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family.”
30. Marlon Riggs
“Silence kills the soul. It diminishes its possibilities to rise and fly and explore. Silence withers what makes you human. The soul shrinks, until it’s nothing.”
31. Jason Collins
“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.”.”
32. Megan Rapinoe
“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.”
33. Teju Abiola
“Every part of you matters. The world is better when you are your authentic self – bold, beautiful, radiant – on full display. I see every shade of you, and I couldn’t love you more.”
34. Solange Nicole
“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.”
35. Anthony Venn-Brown
“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.”
Summary
Whether it be Lady Gaga or Desmond Tutu, there are lots of people who have spoken up about LGBT rights and offer inspiring insights into what it means to celebrate pride month. Remember to be proud of you are and who you love!
Hello, my name is Gay Worlley - no, really - and I love learning about all things queer. I am also a qualified gardener and enjoy traveling in my spare time.
I love sharing my travel stories with anyone who will listen, and now I want to share them with the world through my new website! Not only that, but I want to inspire others and teach you about LGBTQ+ travel, queer media, pride, and much more.
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