Best LGBT quotes of 2018: Moving things queer people said this year

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Lesbian refugee Alena Sandimirova, queer singer Janelle Monáe, HIV-positive MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle

As the year draws to a close, PinkNews looks at some of the most moving and memorable LGBT quotes of 2018.

Janelle Monáe comes out as queer

“Being a queer black woman in America, someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf**ker.”

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Janelle Monae came out as queer in April

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Janelle Monae came out as queer in April (Christopher Polk/Getty)

Gay US figure skater Adam Rippon on his Olympic spat with Vice President Mike Pence

“I don’t want my Olympic experience to be about Mike Pence, I want it to be about my amazing skating and being America’s sweetheart!”

An open letter in the Metro newspaper, signed by 100 organisations that support trans rights

“To all our trans family, colleagues, customers and friends, we are proud to stand alongside you in the fight for trans equality. We support your right to be yourself and you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in all parts of daily life. We will keep on playing our part to make that happen and we send you our support and strength in the face of the hostility directed at you. We are proud to come out for trans equality.”

Best LGBT quotes 2018: 100 companies sign a joint letter showing solidarity with transgender people

Best LGBT quotes 2018: 100 companies sign a joint letter showing solidarity with transgender people

Fantastic Beasts star Ezra Miller on his affinity to Jesus Christ

“I’d like to chill with Jesus. He seemed like a queer, radical, person of colour who was resisting an occupying empire. I identify with every single faith in the world and none because they’re all f***ed-up. Quote me!”

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Ezra Miller at the London premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Ezra Miller at the London premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (John Phillips/Getty Images)

UK government minister Penny Mordaunt launches a gender recognition consultation

“The starting point for this is that trans people need to be supported and we need to ensure the processes that are there when they’re going through a transition are there to support them and not add to their stresses. Trans women are women, that is the starting point for this consultation.”

Lesbian refugee Alena Sandimirova explains why she fled Russia for the US

“When I got asylum it was amazing. I felt protected, like in the future I will have a place to call home. Coming here has allowed me to realise my full potential… and saved me from suicide. Refugees are some of the strongest people. Not only did they survive the country they came from, but they have the courage to learn the process, to speak up, to pursue.”


Paris Lees tackles anti-trans prejudice on Question Time

“In my everyday life, I’m respected as a woman. My boyfriends’ families have accepted me, my friends accept me, my colleagues accept me. I go online and see these awful people purporting to be feminists – you would literally think I was Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator. Bigotry is bigotry, whether it’s dressed up as religion or dressed up as feminism.”

Laverne Cox speaks to transgender youth ahead of a vote on an anti-trans ballot measure

“You are here for a divine purpose no matter what anybody says about you. You are divine. You have a legacy of history.”

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Laverne Cox campaigns during the US midterm election

Best LGBT quotes 2018: Laverne Cox speaks at Boston Alliance of LGBTQ Youth (Natasha Moustache/Getty)

Gay MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle comes out as HIV positive in speech to Parliament

“I hope that my coming out serves to defy the stigma around the disease. I hope that more people will understand that effective treatment keeps people who are HIV-positive healthy, and it protects their partners. That my story might encourage others to get tested and ultimately begin their treatment earlier on. Those who have HIV or who have recently been diagnosed should know that they are free to pursue every aspect of public life without hindrance.”

RuPaul tweaks an iconic catchphrase as RuPaul’s Drag Race welcomes more trans women competitors

“Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines, and may the best woman win.”

Best LGBT quotes 2018: RuPaul appears on the RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular

Best LGBT quotes 2018: RuPaul appears on the RuPaul’s Drag Race Holi-Slay Spectacular