Bill Shorten Quotes

I'm fine with gays. I have nothing against gays.

I'm 44, and I've never had a problem being gay, and maybe I dodged a lot of bullets, and maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. I want to make sure every kid can have that experience.

Yes, it gets better, but I also understand that saying to a 15-year-old that, 'Oh, don't worry, just wait a year', is like saying 'Wait a lifetime', but every single person has the right to go to school and not be afraid.

I think it's great now that we seem to be in an era where it's OK to be gay and I think that the society in North America has had more of a problem with it than any other society.

Within a decade, maybe two or three, Christians will come around to treating gays no differently than they now treat other groups whom they previously persecuted — women, Jews, blacks — but not because of some new interpretation of a biblical passage, or because of a new revelation from God. These changes will come about the same way that they always do: by the oppressed minority fighting for the right to be treated equally, and by a few enlightened members of the oppressing majority supporting their cause. Then what will happen is that Christians will take credit for the civil liberation of gays, dig through the historical record and find a few Christian bloggers or preachers who had the courage and the character to stand up for Gay rights when their fellow Christians would not, and then cite those as evidence that were it not for Christianity gays would not be equal

I'm passionate about speaking out against bullying and speaking up for self-awareness with young people and body-image issues and self-esteem issues.

Coming to the Gold Coast and being able to live as an openly gay man is really important.

Many young people, many children, are being abused, being put down, being bullied because of their sexual orientation.

I endeavour to read more, be more informed on gay rights. Whatever floats your boat is my outlook. It's hard enough to be happy without having legislation against you, too.

Acceptance at home is fundamental, yes, but frankly, it's just not enough. Trans youth, like most young people, spend the majority of their time at school. If you spent Monday to Friday from 8 to 3 being told that you weren't okay, that you were wrong, how are you meant to think otherwise?

If I turned around every time somebody called me a faggot, I'd be walking backward - and I don't want to walk backward.

We need more gay in the world! I really believe that.

Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state.

Sometimes, people can be extraordinarily judgmental and closed-minded to anyone different or special, which is why it's so hard for young people in this day and age to be comfortable enough in their own skin to not listen to the people picking on them.

It's not the '90s anymore. I think the gay community is a lot more accepted these days.

If you join the Boy Scouts without understanding the underlying agendas and biases of the organization, you might grow up to believe that being gay is a bad thing.

The homosexual community has more acceptance in America than it ever has, and the suicide rate is as high as it's always been.

Nobody on this earth has the right to tell anyone that their love for another human being is morally wrong.

I know what it's like to be in the closet! I know what it's like to be bullied and attacked because someone or some group thought I was different or below them... so, I'm coming out of the closet as an ally of equality for everyone; as an ally to hope.

I think over there in Montreal they're a bit hardcore with the old homos. They're not that keen on them.

I help out at Tall Trees, which my aunt set up on the Central Coast. It's where intellectually impaired young people can paint. Their artwork's sent to hospitals all over Australia to brighten up their rooms.

Gay people got a right to be as miserable as everybody else.

We need to be able to go to school and feel safe and accepted for who we are.

We must make it clear that a platform of 'I hate gay men and women' is not a way to become president of the United States.

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: 'Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?' We must always consider the person.