Fact Check: Elizabeth Taylor Once Said, 'There Is No Gay Agenda. It’s a Human Agenda.’ Here's the Backstory
Claim:
Elizabeth Taylor once said, “There is no gay agenda. It’s a human agenda. All of us should be treated the same […] long live love.”
Rating:
Over several years, many on social media attributed a viral quote on gay rights to famed actor Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor reportedly said, "There is no gay agenda. It's a human agenda. All of us should be treated the same ... long live love."
The post was shared on Pinterest, and X and has been reposted yearly around Pride Month, which takes place in June.
(Pinterest via fckh8.com)
The above quote is real and is an abbreviated version of a speech Taylor made in 2000, when she received an award for her HIV/AIDS advocacy during the 1980s and long-time support of gay rights. The award was given to her by GLAAD, an LGBTQ rights organization. As such, we rate this claim as a "Correct Attribution."
The full speech is available on GLAAD's verified YouTube page, and the organization's official social media accounts have shared snippets. Taylor began the speech by talking about her HIV/AIDS advocacy and how the relatively new disease led to rampant discrimination against gay people in the 1980s. "For god's sake, our president [referring to Ronald Reagan] didn't even utter the word "AIDS" for years into the epidemic," she said. "So I got involved." She also used her speech to advocate for legal rights for gay couples, including marriage and adoption.
The statement in question emerges at the 3:50 mark in the YouTube video (emphasis, ours):
All of my life I've spent a lot of time with gay men: Montgomery Clift, Jimmy Dean, Rock Hudson, who were my colleagues, coworkers, confidants, my closest friends. But I never thought of them [of] who they slept with. They were just the people I loved. I could never understand why they couldn't be afforded the same rights and protections as the rest of us. There is no gay agenda. It's a human agenda. All of us should be treated the same, and GLAAD knows that. Why shouldn't gay people be allowed to marry? Those against gay marriages say marriage should only be between a man and a woman. God, I of all people know that doesn't always work. I feel that any home where there is love, constitutes a family, and all families should have the same legal rights including the rights to marry and have, or adopt children.
She concluded her speech by saying "Long live love."
The same section of the speech was shared by her verified Instagram account, run by House of Taylor, which oversees her archive and AIDS Foundation, and has ownership of her name and likeness. House of Taylor also released a Pride-themed T-shirt in June 2024, with Taylor's quote printed on the back.
The House of Taylor wrote about her advocacy work on its website:
Already deeply saddened by the inhumane hardships she witnessed her friends - such as prominent actors Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Rock Hudson and Roddy McDowall, who she shared strong connections with from an early age - experience in the face of bigotry and at the hands of the vicious disease, Elizabeth's fight against HIV/AIDS ramped up with the death of her dear friend Rock Hudson, who died from complications of AIDS in 1985. Devastated by the loss of her friend and colleague, and frustrated by the public's dismissal of the disease, Elizabeth helped co-found The Foundation for AIDS Research that year - currently known as amfAR - which is still considered to be the world's top organization for AIDS research today. She also successfully lobbied former president Ronald Reagan to address the crisis at a time when he, along with most of the American public, were turning a blind eye to the destitution inflicted by the disease as it affected a community of people they largely considered 'less than.' In 1986, Elizabeth testified before Congress to advocate for additional HIV/AIDS funding and research.
Sources:
"Elizabeth Taylor's Life as an LGBTQ+ Ally." Elizabeth Taylor, https://elizabethtaylor.com/elizabeth-taylors-life-as-an-lgbtq-ally/. Accessed 4 June 2024.
"Elizabeth Taylor at the GLAAD Media Awards." GLAAD, 2011. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElSCFzpYWrc. Accessed 4 June 2024.
"House of Taylor." Elizabeth Taylor, https://elizabethtaylor.com/house-of-taylor/. Accessed 4 June 2024.
"Pride T-Shirt." Official Elizabeth Taylor, https://store.elizabethtaylor.com/products/pull-yourself-together-white-tee. Accessed 4 June 2024.
