The Closet Quotes

“I understood intersectionality—the way that white supremacy props up patriarchy props up poverty props up environmental destruction props up white supremacy again—on a gut level, even if I didn’t know to call it “intersectionality” yet. I understood that sex workers are often stigmatized, barred from claiming their full humanity, by sexist culture and feminist movements alike. I understood that the idea of “The Closet” applied to so much more than just queer people, that we are all in a closet of one kind or another. And, contrary to all of my actions since, I understood that high heels and back problems were, in fact, related. What stands out to me most is that, at the age of seventeen, I seem to have understood the full stakes of what I was doing. I understood that by challenging gender norms and conventional masculinity, I was challenging, well, everything. Through challenging the idea of manhood, of being “a good man,” of “manning up,” I was burrowing deep into the core of power, privilege, and hierarchy. On a gut level, I understood that my freedom and liberation were wrapped up with those of so many others who were facing oppression.”
― Jacob Tobia, Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story

“The Auden/Kallman relationship had this to be said for it: It affirmed that it's better to be blatant than latent.”
― Christopher Hitchens

“Jefferson's hatred of Hamilton was complicated by jealousy of Washington's affection for the younger man... The continuing intellectual debate over the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian rival systems of government takes on a new and richer dimension if seen against the backdrop of the personal drama of this remarkable triangle.”
― FAWN BRODIE

“The closet implies a literal, physical boundary dividing one’s life before publicly declaring queerness, and after. It’s a threshold impossible to recross, two distinct places to live: in the darkness, or in the light of one’s self-truth. It doesn’t promise stepping into the light will be easy, but it does imply a fundamentally altered human experience.”
― Grace Perry, The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture

“Rory said he loved me but wouldn't hold my hand in public. & he wanted so badly to end the pain, but it never went away, it stayed with the people that loved him.”
― Christopher Soto

“Like Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, Jefferson kept his intimate feelings hidden from the public, either in triumph or in crisis.”
― Fawn Brodie