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I was pursuing my acting career, but I was silent on the LGBT issue, the issue that was closest to me. I knew if I came out then, I'd have had to change careers.

My being gay was something of not great interest to me.

Discovering I'm gay just sort of happened much later in life.

I spent years growing up being told what my sexuality was.

I was a closet straight. I think I wanted to be gay because I thought it was arty and interesting. And also, I was phenomenally shy with girls.

I was a shy gay man at a time when it was illegal to be gay.

For some strange reason, my gay life didn't get easier when I came out. Quite the opposite happened, really.

Gay men in a very real way created my career.

I came out to my parents as gay, and then I realized, you know, four or five years later, that I wasn't really happy, no relationships were working, and there was something missing in my life, and you know, I was doing drag, performing and stuff, and I realized through that arc that I was much happier doing that.

I was still closeted, but from the day I decided to run for office, knowing that I was gay, I decided that I would, of course, still be closeted but that I would work very hard for gay rights. It would be totally dishonorable, being gay, not to do that. So I had that as kind of a secondary agenda.