Lakeith Stanfield Quotes

I love playing at Surrender because they let me be free and be myself... it's family, you know?

The greatest thing we can do is to give each other a safe space to truly, truly be ourselves in the world.

For every person who might reject you if you live your truth, there are ten others who will embrace you and welcome you home.

The whole point of what I do - the monster ball, the music, the performance art aspect of it, I wanna create a space for my fans where they can feel free and they can celebrate because I didn't fit in in high school and I felt like a freak, so I like to create this atmosphere for my fans where they feel like they have a freak in me to hang out with and they don't feel alone.

When I came to Los Angeles, it was the first time that I ever felt like I belong somewhere. Not because it was wacky, but because people here understood what I felt like to perform, and there were other kids my age who wanted to do it. I didn't get looked at as God, you freak.

I think it would be great if everybody could be out. But it's such a personal choice. People have to do it at their own speed. I respect that.

I'm out here to represent the gingers, the gypsies, and the outcasts. Because I am all of the above, and I'm all about having a great time.

I'm open to whatever people want to call me.

I definitely understand not entirely fitting in. I think everyone has their own version of feeling out of place and I think one of the great things we have the ability to do is to know it's all right. It's OK to have that awkward phase.

I feel at home in Shondaland. I feel a lot of things at Shondaland, but one of the things I feel that I haven't felt before is at home. I feel accepted for who I am and acknowledged for who I am. I feel like my ideas are embraced.

I've gone to normal clubs, straight clubs, and I've gone to gay clubs to party with my friends and fans. There's no difference. I have nothing to prove. I'm very comfortable in my own skin, and I'm thankful to have as many close gay friends as I have, people who have been so supportive in my life and have always been there for me.

I was lucky to grow up in a family where your parents loved you no matter what you were or what you came out as, and a lot of kids don't have that ride.

The beautiful thing about 'Drag Race' is it's the most inclusive television show, probably on the planet. It's the place where kids go because they feel like they don't fit in anywhere else. It's the place they go to feel safe.

There's a lot of hope and comfort and nurturing in the ballroom scene.

When people come to my gigs, they feel accepted as they are and they feel part of this family.

I want to show the world that if you want to be a bearded lady you are allowed to do it without being discriminated against.

I think the reason why people loved 'Jem' in the '80s was because it kind of gave them this story of a place to fit in. It's about finding your place.

Charlotte means a lot to me. This city has embraced me - allowed me to be who I am, allowed me to grow as a man.

When people ask me for advice about when to come out, it's really about, before you do that, building a circle of support that can strengthen you through that experience. For me, it was my friends. There were people on 'My So-Called Life' that really helped guide me.

I would love for 'Hedwig' to be in every tiny shopping mall so every freakish kid like I was can have a broadening experience.

At Afropunk, everyone can be themselves, and I think that's beautiful.

My hair is purple, and unicorns mean a lot to me. They're unique, rare, majestic, and beautiful, and I think those are some things that I embody. I wasn't always confident, and so once I gained my confidence, I was like, 'I'm a unicorn, and I don't care what anybody says.' My fans are unicorns, too. I like to call them my 'unicorn nation.'

I feel like my shows have always been a place where people can wear and be and seem however they want, and it's a heartening event.

I would say I have more in common with drag queens than I do with most people.

Once I was embraced by gay culture, I finally started to feel I was fitting in. I was understood by those people in a way I had never predicted or courted.