More than anything else I recall being, or trying very deliberately to be, a perfect child. Not a Goody Two-shoes, but a kid who did good, who worked hard and met every expectation. I strove to achieve in the excessive way that psychotherapists tend to regard with concern.

I engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man.

Because of an adulterous affair I shall leave office in November.

For me, living in the closet corroded my ability to have an honest, open relationship with my God, my loved ones, my constituency and myself.

I'm on the board of a national group called Faith in America. It's designed to fight religious-based bigotry.

Civil union is less than marriage. Marriage is a sacred and valued institution and ought to be afforded equal protection.

At different points in my life, I had grappled with the idea of going into the priesthood - in high school or law school. Where it ends, I'm not quite sure. Perhaps it ends with death, grappling with one's spirituality.