Harry Hay

Activist

Harry Hay was a pioneering LGBTQ+ activist and founder of the Mattachine Society, known for his advocacy of love and community in the fight for equality.

Born
April 7, 1912
Died
October 24, 2002
Quotes
22
Rank
#1158

About Harry Hay

Harry Hay — Life and Legacy

Harry Hay was a foundational figure in the American LGBTQ+ rights movement, best known for co-founding the Mattachine Society in 1950. His work was driven by a deep commitment to love, community, and social justice, challenging the prevailing norms of his time. Hay famously stated, 'We are all born with a gift,' which encapsulates his belief in the intrinsic worth of every individual and the importance of recognizing and nurturing that potential within the LGBTQ+ community. He also introduced the concept of 'radical faerie,' a movement that encouraged queer individuals to embrace their identities and spirituality, fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance. Hay's activism was not just about rights; it was about redefining love and community in a society that often marginalized queer voices. His ideas continue to resonate today, reminding us of the power of collective action and the necessity of creating inclusive spaces. By advocating for visibility and acceptance, Hay laid the groundwork for future generations to challenge discrimination and fight for equality, making his quotes and philosophy relevant to ongoing struggles for justice and love.

Quote collection

Harry Hay quotes (page 1 of 2)

22 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Harry Hay Activist
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"I'm not looking for a boyish girl. I'm looking for a boy. And I'm not looking for a girlish boy either."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"When we begin to love and respect Great Mother Nature's gift to us of gayness, we'll discover that the bondage of our childhood and adolescence in the trials and tribulations of neitherness was actually an apprenticeship for teaching her children new cutting edges of consciousness and social change. In stunning paradox, our neitherness is our talisman, our fairie wand, our gift we bring to the hetero world to....transform their pain into healings; ...transform their tears to laughter: ...transform their hand-me-downs to visions of loveliness."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"I knew that I was gay in every bone of my body. So I did the only thing I could do. I started the movement."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"I always say to people, "If you share my dream, why don't we walk together?" And that's my only organizing tool."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"Give yourself permission to enjoy being gay. You do have to give yourself permission. You have been told you may not. Give yourself permission to be free."

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"With the full realization that, in order to earn for ourselves any place in the sun, we must with perseverance and self-discipline work collectively for the full first-class citizenship participation of Minorities everywhere, including ourselves."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"Out of the mists of our long oppression, / We bring love for ourselves and each other, / And love for the gifts we bear, /So heavy and so painful the fashioning of them, /So long the road given us to travel them. A separate people, /We bring a gift to celebrate each other, /’Tis a gift to be gay! / Feel the pride of it!"

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Harry Hay Activist
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"Up until I was eleven years old, I thought I was the only one of my kind in the world. I couldn't find anybody else who felt as I did."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"The assimilationist movement is running us into the ground."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"I was accustomed to walking alone. I'd find other people who agreed with me, but they also said, "I wouldn't dare mention it." I was the only one who would say, "We've got to stand." And they said, "Well, yes. And after you make it safe, then I'll stand, too. But you have to make it safe.""

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"The moment you say, "We are proud. I'm proud to be this, and I'm proud to be that," what you're saying is we're almost as good as the others. "Almost" always means not quite."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"I've always felt I carried a golden secret, a wonderful secret. Every time I thought about it, it made me feel warm inside and good."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"Assimilation is the way you excuse yourself. It absolutely never worked at all. You may not think you are noticeable. But they know who you are. They know you're a degenerate, and they've never forgotten that."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"Confronted with the loving-sharing Consensus of subject-SUBJECT relationships all Authoritarianism must vanish. The Fairy Family Circle, co-joined in the shared vision of non-possessive love - which is the granting to any other and all others that total space wherein each may grow and soar to his own freely-selected, full potential - reaching out to one another subject-to-SUBJECT, becomes for the first time in history the true working model of a Sharing Consensus!"

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"Ostracism means you don't exist at all. And that's a very difficult situation to live with. As gay people, we had been chasing ostracism by that point for probably 300 years. You just knew that you should have dropped into your black hole."

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"The police had a practice of entrapping people. This was done all over the country, but we had a particularly vicious group here in Southern California because of the Hollywood situation. They knew they could get a lot of them. They were shaking down people for thousands in blackmail."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"Underneath that facade, I'm a terrified little sissy, just like everybody else. But I never let it show."

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Harry Hay Activist
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"I was an older brother. So I had to do a lot of things first. My father was a self-made man, and he would beat me senseless. But he was a Scotsman, and stubborn. I'm his son, and I'm stubborn, too. I go on being stubborn."

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