Sean Maher Quotes

I think coming out, for me, is really about tearing down the prison wall.

The single best thing about coming out of the closet is that nobody can insult you by telling you what you've just told them.

Personally, coming out was one of the most important things I've ever done, lifting from my shoulders the millstone of lies that I hadn't even realized I was carrying.

I'm not saying that being gay is what defines me, but at the same time, if you feel like you have to hide it, then it becomes what defines you. You keep it hidden, and the secret becomes you.

The truth sets you free. It's a very liberating thing, when you say this is who I am warts and all and then you can just get on with life. It's amazing.

I came out of the closet very young, and I had to cut my teeth pretty fast.

It took me a long, long time to break the chains that's inside me.

I realize it's a cliche, almost, that coming out of the closet is a very healthy and empowering thing to do, but for me, it really has been a truly wonderful thing.

I feel a kind of permission and freedom in my work that I might not allow myself in my real life.

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

I felt so much pressure to come out on other people's terms, you know? I should have come out.

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.

I was terrified to be my true self because I felt that it wasn't enough. But I allowed myself to break down those walls.

If you stop trying to restrict yourself by defining yourself and love in other people's terms, it's the most liberating thing.

I looked at myself and realized I had a lot of boundaries up about what I would talk about, what was private for me and what wasn't. I decided to just get rid of them. It was quite liberating.

When my divorce came through, it was like being let out of a cage because I hadn't been true to myself before; I was being something that was expected of me.

I hope one day I will be able to be completely myself. Maybe I'll be wilder.

Oh, Mona, we're all damned fools! Some of us just have more fun with it than others. Loosen up, dear! Don't be so afraid to cry . . . or laugh, for that matter. Laugh all you want and cry all you want and whistle at pretty men in the street and to hell with anybody who thinks you're a damned fool!

There's nothing more powerful than coming out and being who you are.

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

I had a lot of conversations with my family, my close friends, with my pastor, with God, and kind of came to a revelation that maybe I should be honest with myself about who I am and let that person - this woman who has lived inside me for my entire life - finally have an opportunity to live.

'Truth Will Set U Free' is about honesty. My philosophic belief that ultimately being true to yourself is liberating, with every individual's inalienable right to be who they are without fear or recrimination.

I'm not worried any more about changing people's view of me.

I'm happy being myself, which I've never been before. I always hid in other people, or tried to find myself through the characters, or live out their lives, but I didn't have those things in mine.

The moment I realised anyone could be watching - and this is going to sound so name-droppy - was when Ricky Martin reached out to me on Coming Out Day 2012. The Internet has this massive potential, and you can never know the effect you might have on others by just being yourself.