A biography for Derek Jarmanhasn’t been written yet.
“The preserve of ambition and folly in pursuit of illusion, or delusion.”
“All men are homosexual, some turn straight. It must be very odd to be a straight man because your sexuality is hopelessly defensive. It's like an ideal of racial purity.”
“These names: gay, queer, homosexual are limiting. I would love to finish with them. We're going to have to decide which terms to use and where we use them. For me to use the word 'queer' is a liberation; it was a word that frightened me, but no longer.”
“I'm not afraid of death but I am afraid of dying.”
“Pain can be alleviated by morphine but the pain of social ostracism cannot be taken away.”
“Understand that sexuality is as wide as the sea. Understand that your morality is not law. Understand that we are you. Understand that if we decide to have sex whether safe, safer, or unsafe, it is our decision and you have no rights in our lovemaking.”