Max von Essen Quotes

I'm honestly not the kind of person who wants to step up to a podium, test the microphone and be like, 'Hey, I'm homosexual and this is who I am, hear me roar.' That's not who I am.

I came out to be on television as a person, as a woman. And this can be a great thing for my community.

As a gay black man, it's important to me to show up - that I'm able to show up as my whole self, in every space that I'm in, because that's how I'm able to be the most true to who I am.

Being gay has nothing to do with the three gold medals or the three MVPs or the four championships I've won. I'm still the same person. I'm Sheryl.

I'm grateful to the LGBTQ community for giving me the courage to write music about who I am and not just about my sexual orientation.

There's kind of a gift in being gay because, if you come out, you're forced to express yourself.

I think that our work and our music stands on its own without this knowledge about our identity around it. But I also think that we very consciously decided not to hold back that part of ourselves, but to be very vocal about who we are, kind of what experiences we've had in life, and how we identify.

It means so much to me to see Caitlyn Jenner coming out, just by being her authentic self, staying true to who she is, and just living her life.

It was always my ambition to be on the cover of a free gay magazine.

To hang out in a gay bar or put on a sequined halter top makes me feel like a total person.

It doesn't annoy me but I think of myself as a presenter who is gay, rather than a gay presenter. It's a subtle distinction, but that's how I view it.

I come as one package deal. An Irish lesbian who wakes up every day and goes to work. And I don't spend a lot of time thinking about being 'the first this' or 'the first that' because it would take up space in my brain.

I have never been outed by anyone but myself!

It's about how you exist as a person in the world, and the idea that your work is more important than you as a person is a horrible, horrible message. I always think about a little gay boy in Wisconsin or a little lesbian in Arkansas seeing someone like me, and if I cannot be open in my life, how on earth can they?

I don't feel closeted.

My views on equality are pretty obvious. I mean, I did play a highly complex lesbian techno DJ on TV, but I know it's not always easy to come out and tell the world where you stand.

Everybody knew me as a gay man, and in my life in London, I never tried to hide.

Coming out is a means of redefining oneself, of claiming membership in a lifestyle and a social order with distinct values. Chief among these values is honesty.

Thanks to every gay person in public and non-public life who has come out.

I kind of live my life as an example, and I just never felt like I had to be on the cover of a magazine announcing that I was gay; it's just who I am. I just live my life, and I never really thought about it.

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.

I think that anybody coming out and saying, 'This is who I am, and let me show it to you...' is good for the world.

I am comfortable being gay. Most of my adult life, it's never been a secret. I knew I was gay when I was in high school. I am just fortunate I have lived in two of the most gay-friendly places in the world: New York and London.

I would say, if you come out, they can't take away how you play football. That was the thing for me: once I did come out, it's not going to affect my diving. I can still perform, no matter what anybody else thinks of me. I'm judged for what I do in the diving pool.

The difference between being in the closet and out of the closet as a gay man is such a huge shift. I feel so connected still to that 22-year-old, but the idea that I was not open with that part of my life - which I am now so open about - is sort of surreal.