Lgbt Rights Activists

"Today’s answer is yes. I am proud of where and how I have landed in this moment. Proud of myself, proud of my fans and proud that I keep on swinging. Wrapping up the South American leg once again reminded me of what’s real. There’s no coincidence I would be doing that exactly one year from when I put out the album and played Rock In Rio in Brazil."

"Lately I have been seeing 341 which has me thinking now after giving so much... do I love myself, finally? Well, I get the opportunity to answer that question anew every day."

"143 to me was literally me saying I love you to my fans. Looking back now, I realize it has been all about reconnecting to my fans through these songs and through this wonderful tour that has given me the opportunity to see so many of you again and for the first time. We cats (and rats) have been through a rollercoaster, but wherever the ride took us, we have been together. I am so proud of the community we are and growing to become. History is important, we learn from history, we are reminded of how to and what not to do when we look back. We celebrate the wins and reflect on the losses. All of it is valuable. Let’s hope we get to evolve together for years to come and at the end of it all be proud and at peace with how we tried our best in this imperfect world."

"I tend to be mostly a futurist but it would be negligent of me to not acknowledge the incredible impact this last year has had on me. 1 year ago, 143 came out and I took the weekend to reflect. Records are snapshots of an artist trying to tell their story of where they are now or have been, and hope someone will hear themselves in some of the messages."

"I’ll be there. I’ll fill in. Tap me in, coach. It was a struggle bus. I had two cars repossessed. I was signed and dropped by three different labels. People only know me maybe because of Teenage Dream and the whirlwind and success of that and the accolades."

"I think it’s a byproduct of everything that everyone’s successful at. I just wanted to be seen, period. End of story. And I found my magic trick when I was nine. I started singing, and then the room would freeze. And so I was like, oh, this is interesting. And then I enjoyed it. And it just soothed me. It healed me. My mother called me Bird from a very young age because I would sing myself to sleep when I was little. Then I picked up a guitar at 13. I started singing at church at nine. Started writing my own songs at 13. I made a gospel record when I was 16. And so I always wanted to be on the stage."

"I’m excited when I look around music today, and I see all the amazing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity. I’ve heard a lot of “Do this, don’t say that, wear less, wear more now. Hey, don’t cut your hair.” One of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is I learned how to block out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women. I just wanna say with my whole heart, do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art. Turn off social media, safeguard your mental health, pause, touch grass. And do what you were born to do just like I was born to do this. 143 comes out September 20. I love you!"

"Trust me, it takes a village of strong people, a lot of healthy discourse, and a lot of group chats. My parents and my family, the deepest roots I know. We don’t always agree, but what a lesson that those disagreements can still be full of love. Thank you to MySpace, Warped Tour, and all the bygone places where I found a voice, identity, and a community so early on. Thank you to the friends that were there when my Jetta was repossessed. My Katy Cats: You stood by me for a lifetime, and the LGBTQ community who I recognize I would not be here without and who show me that you can be both kind and [bleeped out]. Thank you to Orlando for keeping me grounded, celebrated, and doing the dishes. And lastly for my Daisy, the only flowers I’ll ever need."

"Oh my gosh. I did that all on my first day of my period, too. Can you believe it? Thank you so much to MTV for believing in my weirdness from day one and for helping artists extend their worlds beyond a song. There are so many things that have to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decade-long accidents. So I would like to acknowledge a few people: my team who have been with me for over 20 years, direct management, and my label Capitol Records."

"It takes a village of strong people, a lot of healthy discourse, and a lot of group chats, I'm excited when I look around music today, and I see all the amazing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity. I’ve heard a lot of, ‘Do this, don’t say that, wear less, wear more now. Hey, don’t cut your hair.’ One of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is I learned how to block out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women. I just wanna say with my whole heart, do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art."

"I still needed to deal with all of my ex-husband stuff. I hadn't, It's almost like if I kept talking about it, it would seem like I actually cared about it. I don't."

"I took a break from my boyfriend, not one that I wanted. It was like a splash of cold water to search inward on what was going on with me. That is what let me to this new awakening, this realizing, if I don't do some self-love, I'm not going to be able to keep the love that I want."

"[Brand] really wanted me to have children, and I knew I wasn't ready—I think it was a way of control, I think it was part of, If I have a kid, then I would have to sacrifice—I'd have to be home more. I really wanted to, but I knew I wasn't ready for it. It wasn't like, 'Hey, let's have a kid because we're in love."

"There were two weeks of my life after I found out the truth about my marriage where I was like, 'OK. All right. I can't feel this. This is too intense right now.' I was, like, just eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos and drinking, and that's it."

"But that’s part of a lot of people’s stories, whether they are famous or not. There is sacrifice. You know, heavy is the head that wears the crown. I put that in one of my songs—‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown, don’t let the greatness get you down.’ Sometimes, it can be an extreme pressure, but really, it’s an opportunity. I try and have a positive outlook."

"I always knew I wanted a great man of God, someone who was going to be an inspiration for people and also be a lovely husband and father, We're at different places in our lives, but we can still grow together. He's thought-provoking, articulate, a real advocate. I also definitely wanted to have a laugh. I have all that in him."

"I'm up to my hairline in planning. It's a lot, especially when you're a woman of detail."

"I have multipersonality disorder—in a very good way, of course—when it comes to my fashion choices,When I first started playing around with my look, it was more of a Dita Von Teese pinup thing."

"This is a really important time in my life. I can't just be the girl who sang 'I Kissed a Girl.' I have to leave a legacy."

"I had this lump in my throat, but I couldn't even cry. I thought, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I was just sitting there in my car that I was two months behind on payments for, knowing I didn't have money for rent."

"I'm not defined by where I came from. I never took part in the rules and hatred that sometimes go along with religion. But if my parents are happy with what they believe, then I'm happy to stay out of their way. We agree to disagree."

"I was like, I don't know if I can hold that promise [to wait until marriage to have sex with kane tod] because this guy at camp is really cute. Sex wasn't talked about in my home, but I was a very curious young girl."

"I gave myself until I turned 25 to make it. And if it didn't happen, I thought I'd just try to find a nice husband."

"You know, sometimes you can be blinded by your extreme emotions. I definitely was looking for answers, during that time when I wrote that song, and yeah, I was depressed and sad, and there were thoughts, but there were never actions, thankfully. But I wanted to share that side of my story, because I know there are so many other people out there that have gone through things like that, and you always feel like you're the only one going through that. You walk out the door, and you see someone you know, and they ask you how you are, and you just have to say you're fine when you're not really fine, but you just can't get into it because they would never understand. Well, then comes along a song that speaks to you, that makes you feel like "Gosh, I can get through this. If she can get through this, I can get through this"."

"I remember really vividly kneeling by my bed as a nine-year-old, saying my prayers and asking God to give me boobs that were so big that if I laid on my back I wouldn’t be able to see my feet."

"You have to find a balance between being a human being and a performer. I know that it’s important for me to realise that this is a job at this level and to separate my personal life from my professional life and the fact of the matter is that we all have obstacles and problems in our lives. It would be unfair for me to press my problems on to my audience who were never there to experience that – they were there to be entertained, they were there to have a great time, they were all in costume and so I had to turn that side of me off when I went on stage."

"We filmed that at the Staples Center for two nights with these new 3D cameras that hadn’t been used before—or, at least they hadn’t been used for this type of thing—and the texture is so beautiful. The slow motion shots are great – and I love that we can bring that to this type of film, because it adds some gorgeous nuances and detail. There are a lot different textures in the film that we use to tell the story, because there is a lot of backstory. Overall, I’m very happy with it, and I’m happy with the narrative."

"Yes, they came on the road and they shot everything—they were there for probably eight months out of the whole year, and they had over 300 hours of footage. Then, we started taking swings at the idea of making a movie and reached out to a bunch of people – it was a long process. We took it to different studios, and Paramount really latched onto the idea, and they’ve been great partners. We’re so in-synch and we wanted the same thing, and it’s been incredible. And in the movie industry, the summertime is really important. They’re putting it out on such an important weekend, and it’s very exciting – I have Christmas Eve jitters. I’m very excited about it, and people seem to be responding to it in a very positive way."

"I was inspired by Madonna’s documentary “Truth or Dare.” I loved her documentary and I loved seeing it, because I wasn’t exposed to anything like that, really, when I was growing up. For instance, I want to watch the first “Alien” film, because I want to see “Prometheus,” and I haven’t seen the first one. I wasn’t allowed to watch or hear or be exposed to a lot of different pop culture moments in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when I was a kid, because of my upbringing."

"What holds me up is focus and determination, and this incredible ambition that just hasn’t subsided yet."

"I think we’re all blessed with gifts and I was lucky I just found out what mine was early on and have planted that seed and tried to water it every day."

"There were some moments that made my tummy turn when I saw them in the final edit, because I’d already lived them and I really didn’t want to live them again,But I thought maybe if I shared that I got through the problem, other people wouldn’t feel so alone in their problems. We all go through a lot of the same things and it’s not about the problem but about how you solve it. The theme of the whole movie for me is about overcoming obstacles."

"If there had been a problem on the set, they would have said it to me at the outset. We had many different options."

"I had really bad back problems and was a little bit thicker. Then I grew up and lost the baby fat and said, 'Hey, this isn't all that bad."

"We're all unique. That's why we all win and we all can exist. People don't want just vanilla. They want 31 flavors. I couldn't do what Rihanna does. I couldn't do what Gaga does. They can't do what I do."

"I'm a good girl because I really believe in love, integrity, and respect. I'm a bad girl because I like to tease. I know that I have sex appeal in my deck of cards. But I like to get people thinking. That's what the stories in my music do."

"He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn't belong there. And for him to say, slaves have dignity. I mean, doesn't he know that slaves were in chains? That they were whipped on the back. If he saw the movie 12 Years as a Slave, you know, they were raped. And he says they had dignity as slaves or— My parents lost everything that they worked for, in the middle of their lives, in their thirties. His business, my father's business, our home, our freedom and we're supposed to call that dignified? Marched out of our homes at gun point. I mean, this man does not belong on the Supreme Court. He is an embarrassment. He is a disgrace to America."

"A bill recently approved by a Tennessee Senate committee would prohibit teachers in that state from discussing homosexuality in the classroom. The so-called "Don't Say Gay" law is premised on the misguided belief that by not talking about gay people, they can simply make us disappear. I'm here to tell Tennessee and all LGBT youth and teachers who would be affected by this law that I am here for you. In fact, I am lending my name to the cause. Anytime you need to say the word "gay", you can simply say "Takei". For example, you could safely proclaim you are a supporter of Takei marriage. If you're in a more festive mood, you can march in a Takei pride parade. Even homophobic slurs don't seem as hurtful if someone says "That is soooo Takei", and around the holidays, you can sing "Don we now our Takei apparel!"."

"I've been working with Bill Shatner yea these 40-plus years. He never seems to get it right. I gave him, "It's Takei, as in way." I even said, "as in gay"… I told him, "It's Takei, rhymes with toupee." I thought that would do it."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so that makes Google my best friend."

"This idea that somebody put into our heads — that companies are somehow these kind of individuated units that are separate from society and don’t have to be paying attention to the communities they’re in — that is incorrect. We need to have a more enlightened view about the role of companies. This company is not somehow separate from everything else. Are we not all connected? Are we not all one? Isn’t that the point?"

"If you want to innovate at scale, you have to get really clear about your values. What do you really want in your company? What is really important to you?"

"The only constant in the technology industry is change."

"When I went to business school, they said, "Focus on your shareholder, Marc. The business of business is business." That no longer applies. We have to erase that from our history books. The business of business is improving the state of the world."

"I had seen a great deal of barristers by now. I realized that their profession was closely akin to that of actors, and that insincerity was the stock-in-trade of most of them. But how could they be sincere, alternating as they did between Crown and defence, knowing the tricks of both sides? It would be as unreasonable to expect sincerity from a prostitute. Year in, year out, these men stood, now on one side, now on the other, pleading the cause of the Crown and criminal with equal vehemence. At the end of a long career at the Bar they must have become like stones, washed clean of all sympathy, all hope for humanity, all regard for truth – and it was then, by a singular stroke of irony, that they were made into judges."

"Sometimes when a man is dying, he directs that his body shall be given to doctors, so that the causes of his suffering and death may be investigated, and the knowledge used to help others. I cannot give my body yet; only my heart and my mind, trusting that by this gift I can give some hope and courage to other men like myself, and to the rest of the world some understanding."

"If you are free, you are not predictable and you are not controllable."

"Let us imagine the prospect-for the first time in the nation's history-of a population united for fundamental change. Would the elite turn as so often before, to its ultimate weapon-foreign intervention-to unite the people with the Establishment, in war? It tried to do that in 1991, with the war against Iraq. But, as June Jordan said, it was "a hit the same way that crack is, and it doesn't last long.""

"June Jordan makes us think of Akhmatova, of Neruda. She is the bravest of us, the most outraged. She feels for all. She is the universal poet."

"June's work opened new ways for me as a reader to think about nature poetry. In fact, as a longtime reader of her work, I had never thought of her as an environmental poet, perhaps because I had categorized her as a social justice poet and a black feminist writer, and in my mind, as a result of years of literary and cultural indoctrination, these identities were separate from what was most commonly defined as "nature poet." And yet, as I read her collected work again in search of nature poetry, I found it everywhere. June saw everything as connected, and she loved nature and spoke out on its behalf."