"I simply want to do the work I'm passionate about, and be seen by the people around me the way I see myself."
~ Alex Hai, the first openly trans gondolier in Venice, Italy

"...No puede ser que los prejuicios añejos sean más fuertes que el amor”

[I]t cannot be that old prejudices are stronger than love. 

~ Chile President Michelle Bachelet speaking to legislators of her intention to reintroduce a draft Marriage Equality Law

"We are a largely religious people, and long may that be celebrated, but each passing decade of this millennium has brought with it a looking glass into a more diverse society — in our views and in our levels of tolerance."

~Royal Gazette op-ed, reflecting on the Bermuda Supreme Court decision for marriage equality

«Vous n'aurez pas ma haine»  /  “You will not have my hatred”

~ Etienne Cardiles in his moving eulogy of his partner Xavier Jugelé, the policeman killed during a terror attack on Champs Elysees.

“This fight is not only your fight. This fight is that of all Dominicans who believe in equality, inclusion and equal rights.”

Dominican Republic’s Minister of Women’s Affairs Janet Camilo to over 300 Latin America and Caribbean LGBT activists attending the third annual LGBTI Political Leaderships meeting

One form of fundamentalism or extremism is not a justification for another. Each is a reinforcing reminder of the global humanist crisis that lies before us. We must break out of this vicious circle that will leave youth globally facing a political landscape offering only a bleak choice of competing extremisms.

~ Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune in her report to  the Human Rights Council

“We have much to lose, so much to protect”

~ UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein at the Opening ceremony of the 34th session of the Human Rights Council

"À l'heure où le monde est en train d'évoluer, à l'heure où certains pays ont instauré le mariage homosexuel et l'ont reconnu, la moindre des choses est de dépénaliser au Liban, ce qui constitue véritablement une liberté personnelle." 

"At a time when the world is evolving, at a time when certain countries have established gay marriage and recognized it, the least thing to do is to decriminalize homosexuality in Lebanon, which really constitutes a personal freedom."

~ Former Lebanon MP Salah Honein wondering how it is possible to criminalize "a feeling". 

“Strong efforts must be made to increase LGBT visibility amongst ordinary Nigerians as well as [showing] the average Nigerian the great strides that are being achieved with regards to LGBT rights in other parts of the world. It is a long and arduous journey ahead and the challenge must be met firmly and with courage and determination.”

~ 25-year-old gay man living in Nigeria to the Bisi Alimi Foundation in their report  Not Dancing to Their Own Music 

"We know that hatred and bigotry spread disease and – as the founders of this movement taught — silence equals death. Tolerance and awareness help stop AIDS. Speaking out protects life."
 ~ UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
 

"I like to remind others that LGBT people are just that – they’re people. They are worth just as much as anyone else. And they are born with the same inalienable rights as everyone else."

~ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accepting the Elton John AIDS Foundation award for his work in AIDS and LGBT advocacy

"Madam Speaker, I am young, I am gay, I am black, a true blue Territorian... I am eternally proud of who I am and where I come from, I own it and wear it with pride."  
~  Chansey Paech, Australia’s first openly gay aboriginal elected to Parliament speaking at the opening of the 13th Assembly of the Northern Territory.  

 “I am black I am gay. I cannot separate the two into secondary or primary struggles.” 
~ activist Simon Nkoli before his death in 1998

“If one of you, my church members, is in pain, then I am in pain too...

Nothing that I heard in the last two days takes away from what the bishops have already said to people of LGBTI orientation. You are loved by God and all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ. We urge you to stick with us to play your full part in the deliberations to come."

~ Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba following the South African Anglican Church synod that voted against blessing same-sex unions

"We recognize that if we don't do politics, politics will do us."

~ Aleksei Korolyov, one of the first openly gay Russians to run for public office

"None of us are free until all of us are free. And make no mistake about it! The ruling today was just the first step. It continues. The struggle continues."
 
~ Senior Counselor Lisa Shoman who represented plaintiff Caleb Orozco in his complaint that the law criminalizing homosexuality in Belize was unconstitutional. In a landmark ruling, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin struck down the law.

"The real reason we haven’t beaten the epidemic boils down to one simple fact: We value some lives more than others. 

We value men more than women. Straight love more than gay love. White skin more than black skin. The rich more than the poor. And adults more than adolescents. I know this because AIDS does not discriminate on its own. It has no biological preference... it doesn't single out the vulnerable, the oppressed or the abused. We single out the vulnerable, the oppressed and the abused. We ignore them, we let them suffer and then we let them die."

~ actress Charlize Theron, addressing the 21st International AIDS Conference in South Africa

"There is nothing more beautiful than looking out into the world and seeing nothing but support and generosity from our community of brothers. And I can tell you one thing, we are not tired, and we are not going to give up."

~Yuli Rustinawati, co-founder of the Indonesian LGBTIQ rights group Arus Pelangi, accepting an award for her work at an OutRight International gala.

“There was a time in our history when we turned thousands of ordinary young men into criminals. And it was profoundly and unimaginably wrong."
~ Victorian State Premier, Daniel Andrews MP in a formal apology to Australians who suffered under the criminalization of homosexuality in the country.

…[R]eaching the counseling room I found a lady seated there and she asked for my history and I told them how I love and sleep with boys and the lady looked at me and she said, “we don't offer services to such people.”

And I was like “I’m a human being who is dying soon, can you please give me drugs and I go?” She told me to move out of the center and go somewhere else. Meanwhile she started calling people to come and see “this rotten person,” so I had to walk out the center and went back home.

I felt like committing suicide — so lost and confused.

~Adroa, a 26 year-old Ugandan who was denied access to HIV treatment because of his sexual orientation.  via 'And That's How I Survived Being Killed'

“Ke nako ya gore re amogele gore re na le batho ba mohuta oo mo Botswana. Go thola re ganetsa selo se re se itseng kgotsana re se bone ga gona go re thusa ka sepe.

[It is time we accept that we have these people in our lives. To continuously deny these facts would not help us in any way. We live with these people in our societies, we need to embrace them and create enabling and welcoming environment in our society and health facilities]"

~ City councillor Sesupo Jacobs from Bostwana  as the Gaborone City Council urged the national government to decriminalise same-sex sexual relationships