Don't Be Afraid Anymore Quotes

“The fact is, however, that in those early days we were not as emancipated as I would like to remember. There was discrimination although at the time few of us were aware of it. I had to unlearn what men in our society are brainwashed throughout our lives to believe, the myth that men are stud football players who bring in the money and women are supposed to stay home and wash dishes! There is sexism among gay males and lesbians just as there is sexism in the non-gay population - because we are all conceived and nurtured by a heterosexual society whose prejudices are reflected in us. We are the children.”
― Troy D. Perry, Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy D. Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches

“To this day, I still do not believe, not for one minute, in the type of god who passes out diseases. What an awful, erratic god it would be! Nowhere in Scripture did Jesus once say, "If you don't straighten up and fly right, God's going to give you a disease." Read the Bible for yourself! Disease is exactly and only that - disease.”
― Troy D. Perry, Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy D. Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches

“We need to know that our government, the government of our birth in most cases, cares about us! I remember how difficult growing up as a gay youth was, and I don't want young men and young women who follow me to have to put up with the anxiety and misery that millions of us have already endured. There has been enough suffering! Those of us here are proud to represent the gay community because we know that we are whole persons, know we're not sinners, know we're not perverted, know we're not monsters, know we're not mentally ill! You may continue to believe what you want. Maybe I can't change that. But to be given our fair and Constitutional rights - that's what we are asking for.”
― Troy D. Perry, Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy D. Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches

“Unlike some moderate churchpeople, the gays in Central Park were not constrained by a philosophy of nonviolence.”
― Troy D. Perry, Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy D. Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches

“It was my conclusion that any people who were oppressed, particularly gay people like myself, could not depend upon others to be our heroes. We could not quit struggling for survival because one man with charisma and foresight had been murdered. There had to be enough of us to carry our own banners, even though the majority of us were still unseen. If we wanted conditions to be different, it was up to us to accomplish the change. And if some of us fell in battle, there would be a surplus of gay people to continue the fight - forever!”
― Troy D. Perry, Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy D. Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches