“There's not a day in my life I'm not proud of being gay, but I just wasn't ready for that attention to be placed on it. I remember being on Oprah. Well, not on Oprah. Near Oprah. She started saying, 'Now, Nathan, you got all those girlie moves going down in 'The Birdcage,' where's all that coming from? You're so good at all that girlie stuff!'” WellsRememberMovingStuffAttentionReadyProudGayThat GirlBeing Gay Author:Nathan Lane
“Being gay, the last time I looked, had nothing to do with reading a balance book, fixing a broken bone or changing a spark plug.” BookLastsReadingBrokenBalanceGayBonesSparksLast TimeFixingPlugsBeing GayBroken Bone Author:William J. Clinton
“The only people are those who don't love anybody.” PeopleGayLgbtHomosexualityHomosexualGay MarriageOrientationGay RightsGay PeopleBeing GayGay PrideLgbt PrideBorn Gay Author:Rita Mae Brown
“There will always be people that will have assumptions about you, about my character, my personality, or that I might put on a show of being gay or something, or that I play up stereotypes or anything like that. It's always funny to me that those people are typically the people that know me the least.” PeopleKnowsPlayCharacterShowsMightPersonalityGayAssumptionKnow MeStereotypeBeing Gay Author:Tyler Oakley
“I am a gay writer, but I am also a Scottish writer and some days a lazy writer, or a funny writer. Being gay is just a part of who I am.” GayWho I AmLazyScottishBeing Gay Author:Damian Barr
“I think as a writer, it's important to show the other part of being gay, not only the sex part.” ThinkingImportantShowsSexGayBeing Gay Author:Luis Negron
“I think I started out okay but with AIDS came a great deal of silence about gayness and this period of lose and morning, but at the same time a kind of feeling like you wanted to get back into the closet because being gay was such a terrible thing at that point.” ThinkingKindFeelingsWantedLosesDealsSilenceMorningLike YouPeriodsTerribleGayOkayAidsGet BackClosetsTerrible ThingsBeing GayGayness Author:Margaret Cho
“I think Justin Timberlake verges on being gay, he gets gay airplay. Britney gets loads as well. If you're male and you're black you're not going to get much play in a gay club.” IfsThinkingWellsPlayBlackGayMalesClubsLoadVergeBeing GayJustin Author:Andy Bell
“Ultimately, I felt fortunate, because in many ways I did identify with aspects of being gay that were very stereotypical. I was a big theatre kid in high school, I was creative, I was very emotionally sensitive, even hypersensitive. I loved female divas.” WayBigsKidsSchoolFeltCreativeGayHigh SchoolFemaleAspectTheatreFortunateSensitiveBeing Gay Author:Christopher Rice
“People are realizing that being gay is just as defining as the color of our skin and it's not a choice. I'm really encouraged. I think in my lifetime we will achieve equality. I'm honored to be a part of it.” PeopleThinkingChoicesRealizingAchieveColorGaySkinsLifetimeHonoredDefiningBeing Gay Author:Leslie Jordan
“I've once gotten in trouble with certain gay activists because I'm not gay enough! I am a morose homosexual. I'm melancholy. Gay is the last adjective I would use to describe myself. The idea of being gay, like a little sparkler, never occurs to me. So if you ask me if I'm gay, I say no.” IfsLittlesIdeasEnoughUseLastsCertainAsksTroubleGayAsk MeMelancholyActivistHomosexualAdjectivesBeing GayDescribe MyselfMorose Author:Richard Rodriguez
“For them [LGBT group], language has to say exactly what it means. "Why aren't you proud of being gay?" they wanted to know. "Why are you so dark? Why are you so morbid? Why are you so sad? Don't you realize, we're all okay? Let's celebrate that fact." But that is not what writers do. We don't celebrate being "okay." If you want to be okay, take an aspirin.” IfsKnowsWantMeanFactsWantedLanguageRealizingDarkGroupsProudGayOkayCelebrateLgbtMorbidBeing GaySo SadAspirinBeing Okay Author:Richard Rodriguez
“I'm very happy that being gay and married and having kids has become such an accepted piece of the fabric of America.” KidsAmericaPiecesGayMarriedAcceptedFabricVery HappyBeing GayHaving Kids Author:Amy B. Harris
“It's also one thing to see a celebrity or some kind of character on a TV show being gay. It's a totally different thing when you know your husband... not your husband, but your brother or your friend or the dude you hung out in high school was gay. I mean, that is what changes people's minds, what changes people's minds.” PeopleKnowsMindKindMeanDifferentCharacterShowsSchoolOne ThingBrotherTvsGayHusbandHigh SchoolDifferent ThingsHungTv ShowsYour BrotherYour HusbandBeing Gay Author:Andrew Sullivan
“In a lot of states LGBT people can be fired for just being gay or for just being trans. That's totally legal.” PeopleStatesGayLgbtJust BeingTransBeing Gay Author:Ellen Page
“What has become clear to me is that it is not the inherent nature of being gay that causes such a reduced life; it is, rather, the social circumstances around being gay: the perceptions of it and the cultural norms that it is said to violate. As some of those norms have changed, I have been able to be gay, to have a marriage, to have a family, and to have - if there is wood to knock on - a fortunate and happy life.” IfsHas BeensSaidAbleSocialCausesClearChangedCircumstancesGayPerceptionWoodsFortunateHappy LifeInherentNormBeing Gay Author:Andrew Solomon
“Religion is so focused on family. These days, for many people, being gay is also focused on family. The Mormon Church is especially focused on family, and I'd have hoped, therefore, that the Mormon Church would especially have celebrated how all of these people who might have been lonely and suicidal and childless are now able to lead this other life. I would have thought it would be a cause for immense celebration. Instead it has been, obviously, a cause of great concern to the Church and its leadership.” PeopleHas BeensMightWould BeAbleCausesChurchGayConcernLonelyFocusedThese DaysCelebrationImmenseSuicidalMight Have BeenHaving HopeBeing Gay Author:Andrew Solomon
“Religion is so focused on family. These days, for many people, being gay is also focused on family.” PeopleGayFocusedThese DaysBeing Gay Author:Andrew Solomon
“Being gay is immutable. Maybe someday we'll figure out more of the science and it will be changeable, but we have no leads so far.” FiguresGaySomedayBeing GayMaybe Someday Author:Andrew Solomon
“I did think Justice [Antony] Kennedy's opinion on Lawrence was critical to that because it really, what Lawrence in one sense was, of course, about consensual sex being something that the government can't regulate. But really in a more fundamental sense, what it was saying, "Look. Gay people are normal people, and they get to live normal lives. They're not criminals by virtue of the fact of being gay."” PeopleThinkingLooksFactsGovernmentCoursesSexJusticeOpinionVirtueGayNormalFundamentalsCriticalCriminalsGay PeopleNormal LifeBeing GayAntony Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“I'm very happy with the outcome of the vote ... I totally, totally support equal marriage in law. I don't want anybody in society feeling second best. I don't believe that being gay is a sin.” WantBelieveFeelingsLawSinSupportGayEqualVoteDon't BelieveOutcomesVery HappyIn-lawsBeing GaySecond Best Author:Stephen Crabb
“It's an incredibly limited sphere those tabloids have, isn't it? Basically, they can accuse people of being gay and they can accuse people of taking drugs, but they can't get any more sensational without entering into the realm of incredibly bad taste.” PeopleTasteGayDrugRealmsSpheresEnteringTabloidsBeing GayBad TasteSensational Author:George Michael
“I have seen a lifetime of transgender people and it was hard enough being gay in the '50s and early '60s. One couldn't imagine the cruelty that trans people had to face back then.” PeopleHardEnoughFacesImagineGayLifetimeCrueltyTransgenderTransBeing Gay Author:Patti Smith
“Regarding gay and music, I don't actually think my music is particularly gay at all, because my music doesn't have sex with men. My music does not have a gender, I don't see it as being gay.” ThinkingMenGayMusic IsGenderBeing Gay Author:Owen Pallett
“The fact that I can ever be open about my being gay is amazing! It's great that I don't have to hide it, but also it would be really nice if, in twenty years, it's not even a thing.” NiceGayReally NiceBeing Gay Author:Shura
“I never really got any backlash from coming out. Across the board all I really got was kids who were grateful, which is so touching and rewarding for me. So grateful that I came out, that I could serve as someone in their world that was gay and helped them feel comfortable about being gay themselves.” WorldKidsGayGratefulTouchingBeing GaySo Grateful Author:Roddy Bottum
“If I ever treated being gay as a problem, then I'm going to continuously find problems, I'm never going to find solutions. Students consistently ask about my personal life, and I kindly let them know, "That's my personal life, you don't need to know that." I've never had a negative interaction with students or parents. I try to become a part of the community so that parents can feel as comfortable with their child moving along in the curriculum more so than me being a problem.” TryingChildrenProblemMovingParentCommunityStudentsGaySolutionsNegativeConsistentlyPersonal LifeBeing Gay Author:Jason Bailey
“I don't feel there's anything about my experience of being gay that gives me more insight into "don't ask, don't tell," for example, than anybody else.” GivingGayInsightBeing Gay Author:Rachel Maddow
“In the old days talks would have made me angry. But now that I've come out, everyone knows the truth. That's like a protective shield against comments like that. Stupid remarks and jokes no longer hurt me, because I can stand by being gay. Nowadays I can even laugh at jokes about gays. Now I feel free, hungry and strong.” StrongHurtLaughingStupidGayJokesHungryCommentHurt MeBeing Gay Author:Orlando Cruz
“I don't buy into the idea that an Irish writer should write about Ireland, or a gay writer should write about being gay. But when I found the right story, I saw it as an opportunity to write about being a teenager and being gay. Most people, whether you're gay or straight or whatever, have experienced that relationship where one person is much more interested than the other.” PeopleWritingOpportunityGayTeenagerIrelandBeing GayBeing A Teenager Author:John Boyne
“I couldn't imagine a book with many characters in it and one of them not being gay. It would have felt like a glaring and problematic omission for me. But I also wanted to write that character as a person, not just a gay person.” WritingBookCharacterImagineGayBeing Gay Author:Ayana Mathis
“What's fascinating to me is that in rich-kid schools, it's better to be gay. No one is discriminated against because they're gay in a rich-kid school. But in poor-kid schools, it's often not the same. So being gay is a class issue now.” SchoolGayBeing Gay Author:John Waters
“Everybody's journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.” IfsDoeFactsFallIndividualBoysJourneyGayDiseaseFalling In LoveLgbtHomosexualityHomosexualOrientationGay RightsBeing GayGay PrideLgbt Pride Author:James A. Baldwin
“It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” AbleHappinessGaySpringDiscoveryHappySelf DiscoveryFinding YourselfLgbtDiscoveringBeing HappyHomosexualKnow YourselfMake You HappyInsperationalGay RightsKnow ThyselfJoy And HappinessBeing GayAlways HappyJust Be HappyJoy HappinessFeeling HappyKey To HappinessAlways Be HappySelf KnowingWhat Is HappinessYou Make Me HappyDiscovering YourselfHappy InspirationalDiscovering SelfLive Life Happy InspirationalDiscovery In LifeDiscovering Your True SelfBeing Your True Self Author:Lucille Ball
“As anyone who is gay will confirm, being that way is not something you become, it is a set of emotional and physical responses that just are.” WayEmotionalGayResponseLgbtBeing GayPhysical Attraction Author:Lance Loud
“It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It's like disapproving of rain.” BitsGayRainLgbtHomosexualityHomosexualPointlessOrientationGay RightsBeing GayGay PrideDisapprovalDisapprovingLgbt Pride Author:Francis Maude
“My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror.” IfsWorldLifeBeliefSexMy OwnHorrorGaySurpriseGay RightsBeing GayGay Life Author:W. Somerset Maugham
“In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality: the ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man; either, a human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation.” MenShouldHumansFeelingsHuman BeingsGayCapableIdealsObligationLgbtHomosexualityRestraintClosetsHomosexualGay RightsGay MenBeing GayGay PrideHeterosexualityLgbt CommunityHeterosexuality IsLgbt PrideLoving A Woman Author:Simone de Beauvoir
“I believe the scripture says that being gay is a sin.” BelieveI BelieveSinGayScriptureBeing Gay Author:Joel Osteen
“For thousands of years, there have been lies about being gay or not being gay. If you know they're lies, you're free.” IfsKnowsYearsHas BeensLyingGayBeing Gay Author:Miguel Angel Ruiz
“My activism did not spring from my being gay, or, for that matter, from my being black. Rather, it is rooted fundamentally in my Quaker upbringing and the values that were instilled in me by my grandparents who reared me.” MatterValuesBlackGaySpringActivismRootedGrandparentUpbringingBeing GayQuaker Author:Bayard Rustin
“What was interesting was talking to older gay men about what it was like being gay in the Eighties.” MenInterestingTalkingGayEightyGay MenBeing Gay Author:Dan Stevens
“Americans know as much about Canada as straight people do about gays. Americans arrive at the border with skis in July, and straight people think that being gay is just a phase. A very long phase.” PeopleThinkingKnowsLongGayBordersCanadaPhasesJulySkisBeing Gay Author:Scott Thompson
“There's lots of stuff about me being a fan of Cliff but not being gay. Which suggests that he is, but he's not. Anyway, this is Channel 4, let their lawyers sort it out.” StuffFansGayLawyerCliffsBeing Gay Author:Johnny Vegas
“We had gay burglars the other night. They broke in and rearranged the furniture.” HumorInspirationFunnyNightComedyGayBrokeFurnitureBeing GayBurglars Author:Robin Williams
“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.” HumansHeartLinesStreetsGayMountainLgbtHomosexualityHomosexualHuman HeartOrientationGay RightsBeing GayGay PrideLgbt CommunityLgbt PrideGay And StraightPro Gay Book:Memoirs Source: Memoirs
“My own feeling about JJ, without knowing anything about him, was that he might have been a gay person, because he had long hair and spoke American. A lot of Americans are gay people, aren’t they? I know they didn’t invent gayness, because they say that was the Greeks. But they helped bring it back into fashion. Being gay was a bit like the Olympics: it disappeared in ancient times, and then they brought it back in the twentieth century. Anyway, I didn’t know anything about gays, so I just presumed they were all unhappy and wanted to kill themselves.” PeopleKnowsPersonsLongHas BeensFeelingsMightWantedBitsMy OwnKnowingCenturyFashionHairGayAncientUnhappyGreekSpokesOlympicsMight Have BeenTwentieth CenturyGay PeopleBeing GayLong HairAncient TimesGayness Author:Nick Hornby
“At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won't be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.” LooksSchoolBlackStepsIssuesGayStandingLifetimeUniversityCivil RightsEnteringGay MarriageHoodGay RightsAlabamaBeing GayGay PrideOutdatedAgainst Gay MarriageGeorge Wallace Author:George Clooney