On August 28, 1971, roughly 100 queer Canadians from Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto came together at Parliament Hill to present a petition to Canada’s government, demanding 10 specific demands for their equal rights and protections. Simultaneously, roughly twenty gay activists demonstrated at Robson Square on the other end of the country, Vancouver.
These events were Canada’s First Gay Liberation protest and march.
Since 1971, we've seen tremendous progress for LGTBQ2S+ folks. However, the community still fights for equality. Let these promising quotes inspire you to make that change and embrace your pride.
Motivational Pride quotes
1. "Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start." - Jason Collins
2. "When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free." - Barack Obama
3. "It's been a journey and a process of becoming totally out and sort of living that truth and having it be a daily thing. I'm at the point now that I want people to know that, and I want to talk about it. We're coming so far as a society, but we still have so far to go. So until we're all the way there, I'll probably die talking about it." - Alex Sanchez
4. "The only queer people are those who don't love anybody." - Rita Mae Brown
5. “I believe that no one should ever have to choose between a career we love and living our lives with authenticity and integrity.” — Selisse Berry
6. "This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another." - Elliot Page
7. "Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Author Ernest J. Gaines
8. "I hate the word homophobia. It's not a phobia. You're not scared. You're an asshole." - Morgan Freeman
9. “If you help elect more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised a green light to move forward.” — Harvey Milk
10. “Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” — Barbara Gittings
11. “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” — Harvey Fierstein
12. “No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.” - Alice Walker
13. “That one word ‘married’ is crucial because it defines our relationship. The way we see ourselves and the way we wish others to see us.” - Claire Balding
14. “Obviously, no LGBT person should be denied the ability to be who they are because their boss disagrees.” – Gloria Steinem
15. "To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true." — Bayard Rustin
Inspirational quotes about Pride
16. "I'm living by example by continuing on with my career and having a full, rich life, and I am incidentally gay." - Portia DeRossi
17. "I think being gay is a blessing, and it's something I am thankful for every single day." - Anderson Cooper
18. "It's been a journey and a process of becoming totally out and sort of living that truth and having it be a daily thing. I'm at the point now that I want people to know that, and I want to talk about it. We're coming so far as a society, but we still have so far to go. So until we're all the way there, I'll probably die talking about it." - Megan Rapinoe
19. "The beauty of standing up for your rights is others see you standing and stand up as well." - Cassandra Duffy
20. “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.” – Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner
21. "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." - Chaz Bono
22. "Somebody, your father or mine, should have told us that not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished, and are perishing every hour - and in the oddest places! - for the lack of it." - James Baldwin
23. “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.” – Ronan Farrow
24. "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." - George Takei
25. "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." -Jason Collins
26. “There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s a lot wrong with the world you live in.” Chris Colfer
27. “We are powerful because we have survived.” - Audre Lorde
28. “We are not what other people say we are. We are who we know ourselves to be, and we are what we love. That’s okay.” - Laverne Cox
Quotes about being proud of your love
29. “Love is never wrong.” — Melissa Etheridge
30. “There are worse things in life than kissing boys.” — Benjamin Alire Sáenz
31. “So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” - Tim Cook
32. “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t ever apologize for your sexuality. Just be you.” – Sonya Deville
33. “People will stare. Make it worth their while.” - Harry Winson
34. “I’ve never met a gay person who regretted coming out—including myself. Life, at last, begins to make sense when you are open and honest.”—Ian McKellen
35. “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." — Audrey Hepburn
36. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
37. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” — Oscar Wilde
38. "Who would give a law to lovers? Love is unto itself a higher law." - Boethius
39. “Love should never mean having to live in fear.” - DaShanne Stokes
40. “In the unification of two minds, the orientation of sexuality is irrelevant.”― Abhijit Naskar
41. “There’s no better time than now to be who you are.” – Boy George
42. “You look ridiculous if you dance. You look ridiculous if you don’t dance. So you might as well dance.” - Gertrude Stein
43. “Cut the ending. Revise the script. The man of her dreams is a girl.” - Julie Anne Peters
44. “Don’t let anyone define you. You define yourself.” – Billie Jean King
45. “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.” - Brene Brown
46. “To be yourself is truly a revolutionary act, and I think more and more people should try it because it’s gotten me a pretty cool life.” - Lena Waithe
47. "The only choice I made was to be myself." — Doris Shutt
48. “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?” – Margaret Cho
Powerful Pride quotes that made history
49. “Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?” – James Baldwin
50. “If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.” – Zanele Muholi
51. “It is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world.”– Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir
52. “Every LGBTQ+ refugee has a unique situation—but the fear and pain they endured before coming to Canada is universal.” – Arsham Parsi
53. “Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” – Barbara Gittings
54. “We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” – Bayard Rustin
55. “I appeal to all governments and societies to promote the values of tolerance and respect for diversity and to build a world where no one has to be afraid because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.” – UN Secretary-General António Guterres
56. “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.” – Tammy Baldwin
57. “Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start.” – Jason Collins
58. “The richness, beauty and depths of love can only be fully experienced in a climate of complete openness, honesty and vulnerability.” – Anthony Venn Brown
59. “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.” – Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General
60. “If anyone is brave and true to themselves, it’s my gay fans. The amount of confidence and fearlessness it takes to do what maybe is not what your parents expect you to do or what society may think is different—to be brave and be different and to be yourself—is just so beautiful.” —Beyoncé
Pride quotes from famous films
61. “Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.” - The Imitation Game (2014)
62. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." - Mulan (1998)
63. “My doctor said we can’t choose where we come from but we can choose where we go from there.” - Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
64. “This is the essence of discrimination: formulating opinions about others not based on their individual merits, but rather on their membership in a group with assumed characteristics.” - Philadelphia (1993)
65. “He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had not changed. The world hadn't changed. Yet nothing would be the same. All that remains is dream making and strange remembrance.” - Call me by your name (2017)
66. “It's not lying to yourself if you believe it.” - Some Like it Hot (1959)
67. “At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you're gonna be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you.” - Moonlight (2016)
68. "The very things that held you down are gonna carry you up and up and up!" - Dumbo (1941)
Humorous Quotes about Pride
69. “Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.” – Dorothy Parker
70. “It still strikes me as strange that anyone could have any moral objection to someone else’s sexuality. It’s like telling someone else how to clean their house.” – River Phoenix
71. “Being gay is like being left-handed. Some people are, most people aren’t and nobody really knows why. It’s not right or wrong, it’s just the way things are!” - Unknown
72. “Darling, I want my gay rights now.” – Marsha P. Johnson
73. "If male homosexuals are called 'gay,' then female homosexuals should be called 'ecstatic.'" — Shelly Roberts
74. "I am the rainbow sheep of my family." — Drew A. Head
75. “The next time someone asks you why LGBT Pride marches exist or why Gay Pride Month is June tell them ‘A bisexual woman named Brenda Howard thought it should be.’” – Brenda Howard
