Billie Jean King Quotes

No one has the responsibility to be out to anyone but himself or herself. I made my choice a million years ago.

I have never been outed by anyone but myself!

I think it would be great if everybody could be out. But it's such a personal choice. People have to do it at their own speed. I respect that.

I remember when I told my mom that I wanted to come out, and my mom was a little hesitant. She was saying, 'Are you sure? Do you think that might affect your scores?' or, 'Is it something that you think that you need to do?' And I told her, 'I don't care. It's important to me.'

I believe that man is in the last resort so free a being that his right to be what he believes himself to be cannot be contested.

So the point is, I don't have a right to tell anybody what's right or wrong about their lives. Who am I to tell you at any given moment of the day what would be right for you?

I think it's totally up to the individual if they'd like a private life or if they'd like to be in the public eye - it's a choice you can make.

I've always been very liberal when it comes to people thinking for themselves.

I believe, basically, that individual freedom is very important.

I'm not even sure I want to use the term 'coming out.'

If I was gay, why would I hide it?

I put myself on the line with my truth and my sexuality. That is my choice. My choice.

I think people should do whatever they want to do. That's the point. Why should you care what other people think or say? You're not living in their pocket.

Being from New York, if you're gay, you're gay. I think it's important that if you are gay, you not be afraid to say who you are.

Everybody has their own way to deal with it. I don't concern myself with other people's - whether or not they want to come out, it's not something for me think about.

In real life, there's nobody more out than Sean. It was just in the press that he didn't want to say one way or another. I think he just felt it was nobody's business, but I feel like he came to it in his own time.

When I came out when I was 18, and I graduated from high school, and I felt like that was the time to officially say it, I surprised zero people in my family.

Nobody owes anything to anybody. You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don't know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?

I am very public about my love for the people in my life, whether they are girls or boys.

I kinda always felt like I am out, for all intents and purposes. So I always came from the standpoint of, 'Why does writing it in an article or saying it in an article make me gay?' That doesn't make me gay or not. I'm living my life. I'm not lying; I don't hide it.

The process of coming out was critical to getting where we are today: coming out to our friends, our family, our co-workers, God forbid, to our clients.

I've never hidden my sexuality from anyone - my whole life, in fact - and I've been waiting for someone to ask about it in an interview, 'cause it's not something you just blurt out.

I feel like how I live my life is my own political statement.

I'm gay. Megan's my girlfriend... These aren't secrets to people who know me. I don't feel like I've not lived my life. I think people have this assumption that if you're not talking about it, you must be hiding it, like it's this secret. That was never the case for me.

Now that I'm older, I understand that it's up to the individual to decide who they are or what they are.