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

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

But being in the closet uniquely assisted me in politics. From my first run for the state legislature until my election as governor, all too often I was not leading but following my best guess at public opinion.

As I climbed the electoral ladder - from state assemblyman to mayor of Woodbridge and finally to governor of New Jersey - political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned how to keep a part of myself innocent of them.

Being gay is a fundamental part of my being - the core of who I've always been, and the thing that I had repressed and run from all my life.

To be able to love and live in freedom means to be able to make godly decisions. To make godly decisions we have to surrender our egos and all the falsity and shame that goes with it.

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