“To those who will not take bold action to change policies and laws and end stigma and discrimination in all its forms, what do we say? Lead, follow, or get out of the way!”

~ UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Dr Shannon Hader

"We must continue to remind ourselves that we as a movement have never asked for anything more, we have never asked for any new rights, we have never tried put our needs and rights above other citizens. All we are fighting for is the human right to be accepted and treated equally, to exist in peace and harmony within our communities. To be who we are, to love who we want. To have exactly the same rights as other citizens. Nothing more. Nothing less."
~ Co-secretaries General of ILGA-World, Tuisina Ymania Brown and Luz Elena Aranda

“We have to force ourselves to walk and talk and dress according to society just so we don’t get beaten by whoever was in a bad mood that day. We have to sacrifice our whole being. I’m not trying to provoke them, it’s just who I am.”

~ Maria, a Lebanese transgender woman

“I am living with HIV. Now you have that information, that makes me extremely vulnerable, but it does not make me weak. I choose to fight, to educate and break the stigma around this subject."

~ Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas

I recognize that what we need to do, is get on with loving one another and put the judging behind us, aside. So with that journey, I recognized that it is important to embrace the community.”

~ Bermuda opposition leader Craig Cannonier explaining that his thoughts have changed and he will vote in favor of marriage equality.

“The most difficult thing is the constant feeling that you’re being evicted from your own home. You were born here, grew up here, fell in love for the first time here — yet you’re constantly being shown the door.The rise of queer culture we’re all feeling now offers a lot of strength, hope, and the feeling that you’re not alone.”~ Russian queer artist and activist Slava Rusova

“It is high time that antiquated, unjust, colonial-era laws against homosexuality be erased from our statute books, just as our forebears abolished the laws that bound slavery to this island for the first 210 years of its existence.

There has been no evidence of fact or figure that has yet been presented to demonstrate that decriminalisation leads to any weakening of national moral fibre or indeed, demographic alteration. On the contrary, there is ample testimony to a people’s stunted growth in climates of authoritarianism and apartheid." ~ Editors, Barbados Today

"A lot of heads were bashed in that night, a lot of people were hurt. But —they all came back for more... and more. That's when you could tell that nothing could stop us at that time, or anytime in the future." ~ Rudy, remembering the Stonewall Riots

“A democratic society is one that embraces tolerance, diversity and open-mindedness."

~ Justice Michael Leburu, striking down the laws that criminalize being gay in Botswana

"Earlier this year, my colleagues and I visited a health facility to conduct a sensitization forum. I personally faced incredible stigma from the health workers there. They referred to me as a “mental case”. I am not a mental case. I am unapologetically me. These laws have taken space away from me. Space to exist as a Kenyan, space to exist as a transgender woman, space to exist as a woman...

I did not choose my gender identity. I did not wake up one morning and decide to be who I am. Who I am, has been a long and treacherous journey. A journey with moments of joy, but many more moments of hurt and pain." 

~ Emanuela, participating in the Voices of Kenya campaign to bring awareness despite the High Court's ruling to keep criminalizing same-sex intimacy.

"I hadn't heard much about the HIV/AIDS crisis before, and it's surprising that something that impacted so many people isn't something I learned about in history class."

~ Student, University of Connecticut

“Why is the government telling women what they can and cannot do, perpetuating harmful stereotypes about women’s role in society as being that of a mother and caretaker?”

~ Polina Andrianova, director of Coming Out, on the Russian laws that prohibit women from working jobs that are "too dangerous".

"This is part of the women's rights movement — it's impossible to separate [the LGBT community]. And I'm very proud of Kyrgyzstan that this has become possible here."

~ Bektour Iskender, Kyrgyz activist and journalist, on the inclusion of LGBT people at Kyrgyzstan's Women's March

“Saying nothing was not an option for me.”

~ Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg after confronting Arab leaders over the repression of gay rights

"We’re not demanding anything special. We just want to have a chance to stand at the same starting line in our lives.”

~ Kenji Aiba and his partner Ken Kozumi speaking at a press conference in Tokyo where they, along with 12 other couples, announced they have filed suit against the Japanese government for the right to marry.

“We can always have different opinions. But we cannot in any way maintain the right to insult people or to incite hatred based on their sexual orientation. These are indeed offenses.”

~ Mathias Reynard, of Switzerland's National Council

“It is no longer enough to just advocate for our rights through education and traditional lobbying.We must also be in the vanguard of promoting and sustaining the democratic institutions and open societies that have allowed us to thrive.”~ Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out

“There’s only one race in the world and that’s the human race. And if there’s only one race, the human race, all humans are entitled to the same rights. It is a fundamental, easy, easy thing to accept if one is a thinking human being, but of course common sense is not so common.”

Margarette May Macaulay, President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights President

"I felt helpless, I felt hopeless, and I asked myself some really hard questions: am I doing enough work as an advocate? Is the work that I have been doing really making an impact and is it really worth it?"

~ Maureen Luba, African Regional Advocacy Advisor for AVAC speaking at the HIV Research for Prevention 2018 conference

“The world cannot allow itself to be silenced by some members of Parliament who are driven by hatred, torture, discrimination and persecution of innocent LGBTI people.”

~ Edwin Sesange, African Equality Foundation