Quotes About Stigma

A lot of people have forgotten the severity of this disease, of HIV. So I think it's important that we just talk about things like this: how we can prevent it, how we can make sure that people are safe, how they can move forward, too, if they do have HIV.

When I was a kid, it was a huge insult to be a geek. Now it's a point of pride in a weird way.

People think I look like a P.E. teacher or the principal.

It's absolutely crucial that we look at mental health not just through the prism of health but in a cross-cutting way.

We have to change public perception of ex-convicts. Most Canadians don't realize that when you come out of prison, you're a complete pariah. You can't get a car loan or money from a bank to start a business. So most end up back in prison within 24 months. It's just so wrong. We need to fix this problem.

Casting directors now just see me as the hard-core sniper or prison guard.

Because a woman goes to prison doesn't mean she's a bad mom - doesn't mean that she shouldn't have her children.

I just don't think somebody that's been to prison is allowed to say what the standard is.

The public don't want prisoners lying about being idle.

When you pretend for a living and you have to pretend in your private life as well, it's very sad. Because it's intangible, depression is an issue that people don't like to talk about. It's like a huge, guilty secret.

Growing up, my experience with transsexualism was nothing but shame. It was something very hidden, and dealt with very privately.

Working at the Food Bank with my kids is an eye-opener. The face of hunger isn't the bum on the street drinking Sterno; it's the working poor. They don't look any different, they don't behave any differently, they're not really any less educated. They are incredibly less privileged, and that's it.

No one doubts that having a criminal record - whether it results in community probation or prison - is a serious handicap.

We need men and women to sit down and talk to each other about sex honestly and openly. That would help us fight Aids so immediately. But our lack of communication is hugely problematic.

How the hell can you change gender in the rural areas? I am a woman. We don't have good doctors; we are not rich to do such procedures.

Science fiction, extrasensory perception, and black people are judged by the worst elements they produce.

If there is a public perception at all, they see the producer as a big old guy who smokes a cigar and has lots of money and lots of power. That's not what a producer is and, if it ever was what a producer was, it certainly hasn't been for a long time.

It's a hindrance in trying to get a serious acting role. The minute a producer has a script and my name comes up, they immediately think of 'Playboy,' 'Hee Haw,' 'Fantasy Island' and 'Love Boat.'

That's one of my pet peeves, that big guys apparently don't have an I.Q. above 50 in the eyes of audiences and producers.

At 21, right out of college, I had two producers, about my age, who had never produced a show before, and they wanted me to write and produce an hour-long show before I turned 22. Which is a whole lot of work for someone who's just an 'airhead.'

I was 24 when I was blacklisted. I was 36 when I got off the blacklist. How much of a life does an actress have in L.A. past 25? ... I was really scared of having producers know that I was on my way to 40.

I'm beginning to get pigeonholed as the girl who plays the crazies and weirdoes - and that's not the entirety of who I am. Hopefully, the whole point of being in this profession is that you change into anyone you want to be.

Don't let the world define you. In the world of acting, and I think in any profession, really, people are really eager to put you in a box and categorize you as one particular thing.

When I first started, it was a dirty word to say you made clothes for people to wear... I was a little ashamed of it. You didn't always feel you were this amazing creative force.