Lena Waithe Quotes

To hang out in a gay bar or put on a sequined halter top makes me feel like a total person.

When who you are naturally is not only considered a sin, but you're reviled for being that human being and you don't have any control over it, there are lots of issues that come into play. And it takes a lot of presence, determination, courage and space to figure out how to land in that truth regardless of what anyone around you thinks about it.

I hope girls read what I say in interviews - they should just be themselves.

I love the mixture that's in me. It makes me me. And that's why it's such a shame that people waste energy in denying who they are.

I can be an incredibly fabulous person, and I don't have to be in the highest heels, the tallest wig, the skimpiest outfit.

Why should Bollywood accept me? I should accept Bollywood. I don't care if Bollywood has accepted me. I don't seek acceptance. I don't need to live up to anybody's expectations.

I am what I am.

I'm such a firm believer that everyone should see themselves in a character, and everyone should feel represented.

I wasn't afraid to be who I am. I didn't think anything was wrong with it.

I have read a lot about what I am and who I am: 'mini,' a copy, simply 'more of the same.' Dear delegates, I stand before you as I am and as life made me and I am proud of that.

There is a beauty and a special quality in being what I am. I know it, and I've learned how to use it.

I want people to see themselves in a person. I never want someone to aspire to be someone else.

Being brave enough to just be unapologetic for who you are, that's a goddess.

I'm not ashamed of who I am.

I don't think I like characters who are afraid and ashamed of who they are.

It's very nice to be able to be who you are.

It's about how you exist as a person in the world, and the idea that your work is more important than you as a person is a horrible, horrible message. I always think about a little gay boy in Wisconsin or a little lesbian in Arkansas seeing someone like me, and if I cannot be open in my life, how on earth can they?

I think pop culture underestimates people. The message is, 'Being yourself is the worst thing you could possibly be.' But people are still attracted to it.

I don't ever apologize for who I am because then I let someone else decide who I am.

I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black: it means that I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect.

You just need to be accepted for who you are and be proud of who you are and that is what I'm trying to do.

I wouldn't want them to feel lonely or outcast ever in any way. And no matter where they were in the world, I'd want them to always feel incredibly confident about who they were and proud.

If I can't be me and be accepted and loved for that, then what's the point?

I feel like I have to have a voice.

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.