Jim Kolbe Quotes

There was a really long period of time when, if the newspapers ever referred to me, even if I was talking about, I don't know, cake making, they would put 'lesbian Sandi Toksvig.'

It doesn't annoy me but I think of myself as a presenter who is gay, rather than a gay presenter. It's a subtle distinction, but that's how I view it.

I want to be elected on my own ability. Only then do you have progress... People should not use race as a basis for labelling me.

Though gay lifestyles have certainly moved into the open, there's little evidence that society has become more open in its basic attitudes or that entertainers should feel cozy in emerging from the velvet underground.

There is nothing radical about Obama except the fact of who he is.

The first black president will be a politician who is black.

I am a woman, a Democrat and a Brown.

If somebody is saying that I should not compete because I'm a man, I don't know what to say to that. And if somebody is saying that I had it easy, I would invite them to join the military and enter Indiana politics in 2010 as a gay person. See how easy they find it.

Early on, I got some criticism from other gay writers and queer theorists for being too 'assimilationist,' probably because my characters are outsiders, even in the gay world.

'Essence' is political. I grew up on the magazine, looking at the covers. Seeing ourselves on the cover is political.

I think, I want to see a Republican Party that has more folks that, that look and sound and operate like I do.

Obama provides hope. Whether he does anything, the hope that he provides for a nation and outside of America is enough. Just being who he is. You're the first black president. If he speaks on any issue or anything, he should be left alone.

Now, it's weird not to have gay characters on a show.

I do not diminish the incredible symbolic importance of a black man getting elected president. But my euphoria was a smart guy getting elected president. Maybe for the first time in my lifetime we had elected one of the thousand smartest Americans president.

I think the world has a place for gay superheroes, certainly.

It is quite acceptable for either party to explicitly go after the black, Hispanic, or even the Jewish vote. In fact both parties gain an indispensable moral authority by doing so.

I've always supported LGBT organizations and things like that because I felt like I had a vested interest in this, where I wanted to help out.

Awards shows are being pushed to shed their genteel limousine liberalism and embrace the race-gender-sexual identity agenda in full.

I am hopeful that there are three or four Harvey Milks. It would be nice to have one in California and one in New York and one in Texas and Oklahoma-it would be fantastic. Maybe even one in Salt Lake City. I would like that.

Let us end 'don't ask, don't tell.'

For Coca-Cola to take a pro-diversity, pro-equality stance creates a lot of goodwill in the LGBT community.

I'm representing the LGBT community, and I want to do well for them.

There's nothing that makes me feel better than being on these mainstream shows, whether it's 'The View,' 'Colbert' or whatever, and saying, 'It's a privilege to be black.' Oh, I love that.

There are plenty of organisations making a real difference to the lives of gay people around the country that do need our help, so why undermine the wonder of 'Strictly' by politicising it?

I've got lots of problems. Being gay isn't one of them.