I Didn't Say It ... Happy Pride!

Zohran Mamdani, NYC Democrat Mayor, on Pride Month:

“It would take far more than a month to honor the contributions of queer and transgender New Yorkers. From the Cercle Hermaphrodites in 1895, the first trans advocacy group in the United States, to the drag balls of the Harlem Renaissance, to the Stonewall uprising , to the Lesbian Herstory archives, to Act Up! Founded in 1987 as queer people fought for their lives while the Reagan administration looked away, New York City’s history has long been shaped by queer and trans New Yorker’s/ To all our queer and trans neighbors, you deserve a city where you can afford to live safely, openly and joyfully. Happy Pride, New York City!”

This is how you do it. Praise the struggle, praise the march, praise the battle, praise those who came before us.

Remember, praise, Pride.

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Patti LaBelle, legendary entertainer, on her gay fans:

“When I think about it, the gay fans are one big reason I’m still standing, ‘cause they loved me when other people tried not to.”

Patti was very different when she first arrived on the scene and The Gays loved her, loved her difference, loved her fierceness.

And we still do.

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Marlon Wayans, on supporting his transgender son, Kai, through his transition:

"It taught me true, unconditional love. I've never been married because I was never ready for marriage. And I went through this journey with my child, and it taught me to love unconditionally. At the end of the day, are my children happy? And if they're happy, then I'm happy for them. My job as a father is to protect, respect and honor my children, and make sure they feel supported. It's not my job to judge them; it's my job to love them. All of my kids are gifts, and our love is the wrapping paper.  And if you think you're gonna bully my child, go somewhere else. It's not going to happen. I won't stand for it. I'm not here for hate. Transphobia is a form of hate. Homophobia is a form of hate. Racism is a form of hate. All those small-hearted, small-minded people, there's a hell for you. And if you think you’re gonna bully my child, go somewhere else. It’s not going to happen. I won’t stand for it.”

This is how you parent, as I always say … unconditionally, supportive, loving.

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Marcia Gay Harden, Oscar-winning actress and mother of queer children, in a speech at the LA LGBT Center’s A Place We Call Home gala:

“The people I need to talk to tonight are old, staunch, stubborn families. Families who don’t accept the queer community, and because I also believe that mothers are the real vanguards of change and the torchbearers for community, it is mothers that I’m talking to tonight. If you’ve not welcomed the queer community into your life, either as friends or should you be so lucky, your children, you are cutting off your nose to spite your face. You’re missing out on a fabulous life experience and basically you’re making a great big mistake. Saying to your children, you can’t be you and live in my home or be in my family, you are losing out because they won’t come home for [holidays  and] honey, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a lesbian stuff a Thanksgiving turkey. No one chooses the holiday decorations for the Christmas party faster than a gay man. I mean come on, twink twink twinkle. And should your ex happen to show up at that same Christmas party with his girlfriend or perhaps the new wife, the queers will be the first to tell you that you are serving c**t. [So] march with us … help us protect your child. Be an ally. Your life will be extraordinarily enhanced and open up wonderful new doors and new experiences for you. So instead of telling young people all across the country that who they are is somehow wrong or they are undeserving of dignity, join us in pointing out that what other people see as faults or cracks is simply where the light gets in.”

Once you get the mothers standing up for our community the rest of the world will follow because as we all know women rule.

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John Casey, senior editor of The Advocate, on Cher’s 80^th birthday:

“When you’re a gay man of a certain age, and you can remember Sonny and Cher because the two names went together, and then you watch her decades later, still fabulous, still performing, still cranking out the hits, something in you feels zesty and invincible—even though that’s a real stretch considering everything. Yet, Cher is proof. Proof that the number on the calendar doesn’t have to define the size of your life.”

Ageless and timeless, and the only solo artist in history to achieve number-one hits on a Billboard chart in seven consecutive decades, spanning from the 1960s to the 2020s.

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