Ben Hopkins Quotes

I can't tell you at DragCon how many families that waited in line to see me. Some of them waited up to five hours, and they had their family there. That's the beauty of this. I remember being that little gay boy in Mesquite that was so afraid of the world, like, 'Am I living right? Am I living wrong?'

I never thought in a million years I'd be involved in a project that celebrated the fullness of my identity of being queer and Asian.

As a gay black man, it's important to me to show up - that I'm able to show up as my whole self, in every space that I'm in, because that's how I'm able to be the most true to who I am.

My whole life is queer.

Being able to live my life transparently does empower me to feel like I can be myself more. It's easier for me to flirt with girls now that girls know that I'm gay. It almost makes it a sexier encounter than if I was trying to pretend that I was straight.

It was a pleasure to be a gay eyesore.

I love drag queens and they love me.

As a child, recognizing my difference from other kids, I went to the local public library to try to better understand my reality. Back then, many library card catalogues didn't even list 'homosexuality' as a topic.

Coming out is a means of redefining oneself, of claiming membership in a lifestyle and a social order with distinct values. Chief among these values is honesty.

I'm not sure when I first knew that I was gay.

I always knew I was gay. I always knew that somehow it would work out.

I've been gay since the day I was born.

I've lived my whole life exactly the way I've wanted to. Being gay, being white, being male, it doesn't matter to me. They're all things I'm born with.

It's daunting, taking on the task of representing the gay community, because there are so many different facets and different schools of thought and behavior.

I'm always happy to support the gay community.

I love looking out in a crowded theater and seeing a sea of gay men.

Gay men in a very real way created my career.

I never felt I had anything to hide. I never felt being gay was anything to be ashamed of, so I never felt apologetic. I didn't have issues with it, didn't grow up with any religion, so I didn't have any religious, you know, issues to deal with as far as homosexuality is concerned. So, I accepted it very easily. For me, it wasn't that big a deal.

I didn't want to wave the flag and be like, 'Look! I'm gay! Da da da.' I just wanted to say, 'This is my lifestyle.'

'RuPaul's Drag Race'... is very little about boys who dress up in girls' clothing: it's very much about grit, integrity, heart, power of perseverance, and the power of love. It's also opening a dialogue up about the persecution and the marginalization of trans people, of queer people, of gender non-binary and gender fluid people.

My life's not about being gay - although one could argue I'm pretty professionally gay - but that's not how I experience life. Being gay is a profound part of who I am, but it isn't all of who I am.

I don't want to be a queer icon. I want to be an icon.

The word queer first started being used in the late 1980s by members of the community who wanted to reclaim something negative and turn it into a positive. It's still a painful word for some, and lots of people don't identify with it. But for me it's a helpful and empowering term that unifies an ever-growing community.

If you listen to PWR BTTM, or to Gloss, If you look at me on stage, it can make you feel less alone. It makes you feel like you're a queer person and you have this singular power, but it's not like we're a brand. We're just real.

The most radical thing about our lives is getting to be in a visibly filled-out queer crowd every night.